How to Improve Your IELTS Grammar - Mini-Course: Complex Sentences

everyone Chris here from Isles advantage with day two of our IELTS grammar many course so what are we doing this week well on Monday we looked at the marking criteria surrounding grammar grammars 25% of your total speaking mark 25% of your total write writing mark it's very very important but on Monday we talked a lot about high grammar is misunderstood especially the marking criteria and high grammar can affect other parts of the marking criteria so check out and we also looked at a lot of myths surrounding grammar and there's a lot of misconceptions misunderstandings about high grammar is assessed by the examiners so in order to understand what the examiners want and to give it to them you have to understand what they don't want first so you can check that out on Facebook or YouTube and today what we're going to look at is something that a lot of you requested and again there's a lot of a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about this area too which is simple versus complex sentences so we're going to look at how to how to make these what they are everything related to these today and this also will help you understand other parts of the test it will help you understand tenses and help you understand structures a lot more on what the examiners want on day 3 which is going to be on Friday at 11:00 a.m. UK time we're going to give you a grammar improvement plan the most important thing related to grammar is accuracy so in order to improve your grammar score and improve your writing improve your speaking you need to reduce the number of mistakes that you're making so we're going to show you exactly what to do and give you a very simple plan that you can follow and we'll give you that to you on Friday so what will we do today so we're going to look at what is a simple sentence what is a complex sentence we're also going to look at what two examiners really look for and this is going to be quite interesting and then we're also going to look at the dangers of complex sentences much like many other things in IELTS tests such as idioms or phrasal verbs or structures they can help you or they can harm you if you're using them incorrectly they can actually lower your score and so we'll look at a lot of that I mean we'll also look at how to make complex sentence of a very very simple way of thinking about how to make complex sentences because complex sentences are not actually complex alright so before we look at complex sentences we need to understand what a simple sentence is alright so let's not overcomplicate things by talking about simple compound complex alright let's just categorize them simple and complex because if you don't do that then people get into a debate about what a compound sentence is versus a simple sentence versus a complex sentence and we want to just keep it as simple as possible so I teach English subject-verb-object one clause all right so it has one clause it is a simple sentence I teach English doesn't get any more simple than that but it's why is it a simple sentence it is a simple sentence because it has one clause in it all right it is not simple because it has simple language or because it is short or anything related to that simple because it has one clause so I teach English one clause let's compare that with this sentence I am a teacher also that is one clause but then we have a different clause who specializes in teaching English so this is a simple sentence and this is a complex sentence why is this a complex sentence it is a complex sentence because it has more than one clause in it I teach English one clause I am a teacher who specializes in teaching IELTS more than one Clause more than one clause equals complex ok so here we have in this box I am a teacher we have an independent clause this is the first clause in this sentence it is an independent clause because I can cover up who I can cover up all this I can just say I am a teacher on it stands alone you know exactly what I mean by that this is the dependent clause who specializes in teaching IELTS it is dependent on the independent clause because if I say to you hello who specializes in teaching IELTS you wouldn't know what I was talking about alright because it is a dependent clause so you need to understand the difference between independent and dependent clauses what clauses are and understand that a complex sentence is simply a sentence with more than one clause in it well let's look at that in a little bit more detail so why are complicated are complex sentences so complex why is there so much complexity and misunderstanding and misconceptions about this well it's all because of this many people think many students believe this and many teachers teach this that the word complex means it is long just because your sentence is long doesn't mean that it's complex it's complicated just because your sentence is complicated doesn't mean it's complex sophisticated what does that even mean and these are all quotes from students academic what does that even mean you could have a non-academic sentence and it could be a very complex sentence or high level again what does high level even mean you'll hear a lot of students talking about high level words and high level sentences and then the question I always ask them is well what's a low level sentence what's a low level word what is a high level sentence what is a high level word and they can never ever explain that and this is just nonsense all right so remember a complex sentence just means more than one Clause it does not mean long complicated sophisticated academic or high-level why is this important it's important because this is how the examiners are thinking about it the examiners are not looking at your sentences and thinking are these high level or these academic are they sophisticated they're looking at the number of clauses in them on the accuracy of those sentences so let's look at this again because it's when you first hear that might go over your head a little bit so here we have three ideas idea one my name is Chris that's an idea I'm from Ireland idea - I used to live in Asia idea 3 so here are three simple sentences simple sentence one simple sentence two and simple sentence three okay why are they simple sentences they have one clause in it all right one clause one clause one clause then we take these three simple sentences and we put them into one complex sentence my name is Chris and I am from Ireland but I used to live in Asia so is this sentence complex before watching this video or many people will look at that and say this sentence is not complex why would they say that because it's not high level it's not sophisticated it's not academic it's not long it's not complicated but none of that matters all that matters is how many clauses are in it all right there are multiple clauses in this there's more than one clause in this sentence therefore it is complex so are complex sentences complex no not at all they're only complex if you misunderstand them or you make them complex yourself so what do examiner's actually look for okay so when they're looking at your essay or your task one report they look at did you attempt to use complex sentences in other words are all of your sentences simple or are there some simple sentences with just one clause and you attempted sentences with more than one clause for most people that will not be a problem all right a mix of simple and complex sentences again if you look at your writing you might not think that it's complex but if you look at your writing highly likely that you have a mix of simple and complex sentences and you produce complex sentences accurately not 100% accurately as we looked at in the first lesson you don't have to have a 100% accuracy but most of your complex sentences don't have any errors in them and that is the level that you need to get to and that is the thing that people will struggle with the most accuracy all right so what the examiners really want so that's if you look at the marking criteria that's what you'll see but if you talk to examiner's and if you talk to anybody reading anything what do they really want so here we have your little brain and in your brain there are lots of ideas ok idea one idea two ID 384 idea 5 when you're looking at an IELTS question or when you're when you're in the speaking test and the examiner is asking you lots of questions you have hundreds and hundreds of different ideas firing off all right so should you take each of these ideas on state simple sentences all right no you would never do that if you are at a certain level in your in your learning and your your English ability you will be able to take these multiple ideas and put them in to complex sentences so you're taking complicated ideas putting them into complex sentences on making them clear so all complex sentences are are tools that you use to make your writing or your speaking clear they're just tools to help you communicate clearly with the examiner and that's all what the examiners really wants they don't want to look at your writing and get a headache because they have no idea what you're talking about because you try and use all these complex structures and tenses and long sentences and sophisticated sentences they just wanted you to take your ideas and put them clearly on paper and that's what complex sentences do it allows you to take lots of ideas put them into one sentence in a very clear way let me give you an example imagine I am talking in the speaking test imagine I'm talking about first class air travel all right so the examiner says you ever flown first class so first idea first class is luxurious yeah I'd like to do that I will be well-rested so I'll be able to sleep on the plane that would be great it is very expensive third idea I don't fly first class fourth idea so simple sentence simple sentence simple sentence simple sentence in the speaking test I would never say imagine the examiner says have you ever flown first class I would never say first class as luxurious I will be rested it is expensive I don't fly first class you no one ever speaks like that it's very robotic way to speak what I would probably do is put it all together into a complex sentence although first class is luxurious and results in a person being well-rested it is very expensive and this is why I fly economy not first class because I and also I don't have the money so you can see the difference between four separate ideas for simple sentences still four ideas but in one complex sentence and this shows the examiner that a you know how to use complex sentences and you know how to use English grammar accurately this is very very different to how most teachers are teaching this most teachers are saying you know just throw in as many as much information and as many complex things as possible and that leads to a lot of mistakes because remember we talked about in lesson 1 about the relationship between range and accuracy when we're talking about complex sentences the more complex so as you increase complexity and make your sentences more and more complex what you think is complex you're sacrificing accuracy and clarity by clarity I mean can the examiner understand what you are saying or what you've you've put down on paper so the danger of complex sentences especially if you misunderstand what they actually are is you might think that your writing is amazing you'll be like Oh I was a beautiful essay I worked up beautifully it was amazing all these complex structures and it was amazing but it's full of grammar mistakes and the examiner has no idea what you were saying because you were focusing on this rather than this and it's a bita balancing act all right do not use complex sentences for the sake of using it when I'm writing an essay a lot of my topic sentences at the beginning of a main body paragraph are short simple sentences because that is normally what is required to get my my idea across because it's most topic sentences are just short simple sentences not always but most of the time so I'm not going in thinking how can I make this topic sentence really really really complex I'm going in and thinking how can I make sure that it's accurate and that it does the job that it's supposed to do which is tell the person reading it what the rest of the paragraph is about so you need to be very careful with this balancing act so how do you make complex sentences so I could create a whole course on how to make complex sentences I got a 12-hour course on how to make complex sentences and I'm sure you don't have time for that a really great way of thinking about it instead of thinking about you know independent clauses and dependent clauses and where does this go here just think about pieces of wood nails and a hammer okay so the pieces of wood are your ideas all right so you're going to have multiple ideas probably going into one sentence the nails are conjunctions what are conjunctions you can google this you can look it up yourself but they're basically words that connect ideas together it's just a very simple way of thinking about it then the hammer is your skill and your knowledge your knowledge of grammar so once you put these three things together this is a really good recipe for making complex sentences if you don't have ideas you won't be able to make him but I'm sure you do if you don't have conjunctions you won't be able to link those together in the same way if you're trying to build a table you need nails to knock through and then the hammer is the skill you need the skill to understand and work what you know where does the conjunction go which conjunction to use is the grammar correct how does that sentence look and that's where you produce complex sentences but you probably already making them alright many many students come on to you for example come on to our VIP grammar course for our VIPs we created a whole grammar course like a 12 module course that covers everything and one of the things that when they come on it they we show them is I gets video two in the course is simple versus complex sentences because they'll come on to the grammar course and they'll say please teach me how to make complex sentences I need to know this in order to improve my score we say you're probably already making them the complex sentences are not actually that complex you probably have grasped it you might be making a few grammar mistakes when you're making it or using the wrong conjunctions or something like that but you're probably way more capable than you already think that you are so in the comments have a look at your essays I'm sure that you've probably did a little bit of practice already you might already have a your written down online somewhere or a people have a piece of paper or your study book or whatever how about look at your essay I'm posted not the whole essay post one sentence that you think is complex alright and then everyone else can tell you whether you think it they think it is complex or not and if there's any mistakes in it or anything and don't worry about making mistakes this is the time to make mistakes you don't want to make mistakes on exam day this is not exam day so don't worry about making mistakes and so be really interesting to see that because as we talked about on Monday most students are worried about this all right they're really really worried about range and they're not worried enough about accuracy all right but the thing is that this is probably at the level that it needs to be already this is not at the level that it needs to be already so what I guarantee but a lot of you are going to post complex sentences which satisfy range but there will be lots of little mistakes in them and that's what we're going to look at in on day 3 which is Friday 11:00 a.m. we're going to give you a grammar improvement plan which you'll be able to take and improve the accuracy of your sentences also if you have any questions or anything like that we you you can email us Chrissa dial to advantage comm either myself or one of my team we'll get back to you when we have time and but if you have any questions about that feel free to get in touch with us let me take some questions in case there was any misunderstandings or anything about that so feel free to ask any questions about the lesson it's always good to get your perspective and what you think about it just trying to find a question all of you are saying thank you and great job and nice things so thank you very much for that very good question so complex means compound so the reason why I didn't really talk about compound sentences we're just trying to keep it as simple as possible because when you throw in an extra element it can make it a little bit more complicated than it needs to be yes strictly for the purposes of grammar if you go and look at a grammar book there will be a distinction between simple sentences compound sentences and complex sentences but for the purposes of IELTS just keep it very simple one Clause simple more than one clause ie two three four five six seven whatever maybe don't go up to seven or eight and it's complex so just think about it that way so a lot of people are saying and I understand well so many things related to IELTS that are like that and it's the reason why I start many of my lessons with these are the myths these are the misunderstandings these are the things because IELTS is a simple test over complicated by students and teachers and it doesn't need to be that complicated there it's not easy but it is simple I'm Mandi can you tell me a website that's good for conjunctions and creating complex sentences yeah there's a couple of really good free grammar websites the British Council has a lot of free information on their website and then it's very reliable and so check that out and they have some practice activities and stuff there and where else did I see I can't think of any others off the top of my head but garage at the British Council it has some really good grammar articles a very you know simple straightforward and unto the point Benjamin when are you going to deal with academic writing task 1 and task 2 well we have a lot of past lessons on those and we have our whole VIP course which is a massive part of it is that up do complex means we use but because such so that's a good question so Abdul's question is up to a row says complex means that we use but because such those types of words so yes some of those words are conjunctions and complex sentences involves using conjunctions but just because you use a conjunction does not mean that you have an an accurate effective complex sentences for example let's say you're building a table all right and you have the best nails in the world the nails are amazing but you have no skill and the pieces of wood are faulty are you going to build a good table no in order to build a good table you need good ideas good good good pieces of wood nails and skill and tools and all of those things so it's not just one thing up till so think about it that way you're not dependent and independent clauses make complex sentences yep that's one way to think about it I like to use this way because when you teach independent dependent complexes and like subject-verb-object I find a lot of students love that way of teaching but the majority of students do not like that way of teaching a lot of grammar lessons are like subject + verb + object independently it looks like a mathematical formula and some people who are mathematically inclined love that way of teaching most people don't and most people do not learn languages in the same way that they learn mathematics it's the same reason why if I ever see a student who tries to create essay using those types of formulas they're probably going to fail it's it's not a good way of doing it Christine do you advise people going to review center or just to do it online very good question so this is the example I always use for this is like the Hollywood example think about how Hollywood produces movies alright so my favorite movie is Batman alright so when they were making Batman they got the best writer the best directors the best special effects people the best cinematographers and they put it all together in one place and then they distributed it throughout the whole world now imagine if instead of doing that what Hollywood did was they got the script and sent it out to your local drama group all right on your local drama group and your local teacher your local actors in your local they did the special effects and everything would that be a very good movie no the exact same applies to most local Isle centers all right so you're comparing a local Isle center with an online course if you have an online course and it's produced by people who really really really know what they're doing then it's going to be a hundred times more effective because the quality is going to be better the feedback is going to be better and then just having stuff online means that you can access it and use it at anytime you like and so I think it's much much better and that's where I'll finish for today so thank you very much and don't forget are you already making them post them in the comments and I will have a look at them and I won't be able to comment on every single comment obviously because I'm not Superman but I will have a look at some of them and comment and some of them later so thank you very much guys and if you need anything feel free to get in touch and on Friday we'll be looking at how to improve your grammar how to improve accuracy in particular see you soon oh boy

Channel: IELTS Advantage

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Keywords: IELTS, IELTS Advantage, Chris Pell, www.ieltsadvantage.com, grammar, IELTS Grammar, international english language testing system, ielts test, ielts speaking, ielts writing, subscribe, english lesson, pronunciation, live lesson, complex sentences, IELTS Grammar Mini-Course: Complex Sentences, lesson, in this lesson, learn english, english, how to, ielts preparation, ielts listening, vocabulary, speaking, practice tests, english grammar, ielts 2019, Improve Your IELTS Grammar

Id: At_d1tOLluw

Length: 25min 45sec (1545 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 06 2019