How to Write Complex IELTS Sentences

hello everyone my name is Alex and I'm one of the expert IELTS teachers here at e2 language comm if you clicked on this video it's probably because you want to or you need to work on your grammar and that's what we're going to do in this writing clinic we're gonna work on complex sentences and I promise it's actually not that complex so let's get started today's lesson I'm going to show you the difference between a simple compound and a complex sentence and then we're just going to do a stack of practice so even though it may be a little daunting at the moment sounds scary complex sentences subordinating conjunctions we're gonna do so much practice by the end you will be an absolute grammar weapon so why do we need to look at complex sentences and subordinating conjunctions well if you're preparing for the IELTS test this is a really important part of your score not just in writing but in speaking as well but I'm going to focus on the writing part here here's the criteria you've seen this a million times on the right is the grammar grammatical range and accuracy criterion band seven requires that you use a variety of complex structures so you must use a variety of complex structures to score bound seven and up and big problem for people is down here at band four where it says uses only a very limited range of structures and only rare use of subordinate clauses so this begs the question doesn't it what is a complex structure well a complex structure contains a subordinate clause so what is a subordinate clause well let's steel first with this question what is a clause basically a clause is a chunk of language and this chunk of language has a subject and a verb at least a subject and a verb like this she runs he drives a car they live in a large house all of these chunks of which have a subject and a verb and sometimes a little bit of extra stuff as well and these are all full sentences complete thoughts these are called independent clauses they don't need anything else to make sense there are the clauses like this because she runs when he drives a car although they live in a large house so again we've got a subject in a verb but here we've got an extra word because when although and now the sentences well they're not really sentences they don't make sense these are subordinate clauses there's a subject and a verb and another word a subordinating conjunction let's see one more time who runs which he drives where they live these are still clauses because there's a subject and a verb but they start with a relative pronoun who which where so these are relative clauses so a complex sentence contains a language chunk that starts with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun now we're going to come back to this so don't worry just yet let's start with simple sentences and go from there we already saw some simple sentences before but here are a couple more many children play computer games subject verb this is a full complete thought others prefer sports this is another complete thought this is two simple sentences here how can I join these sentences together to make compound sentences this is pretty easy we've got the same two sentences many children playing computer games others prefer sports and we just put in the middle a word like this but now we've got a compound sentence so compound sentence has two full sentences two complete thoughts and a coordinating conjunction in between them so coordinating conjunction sounds like a big word but no need to panic how am I going to remember all the coordinating conjunction it sounds like a lot but it's really really simple especially in terms of compound sentences there are only seven words there are only seven coordinating conjunctions to create compound sentences and you can remember all seven with this simple word fanboys these are the first letters of all the coordinating conjunctions they are for and nor but or yet so and that's it if you can remember that word you can remember all the coordinating conjunctions and you can create compound sentences so quick recap we've got simple sentences many children play computer games others prefer sports now we know how to make compound sentences many children play computer games but others prefer sports so now we're up to the big one complex sentences what are they how do we make them remember how I said a compound sentence needs to complete thoughts with a coordinating conjunction in between well a complex sentence needs a similar word to a coordinating conjunction but we call these subordinating conjunctions so a complex sentence includes a clause or a language chunk that starts with a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun these are a bunch of subordinating conjunctions so you probably already know them you probably already use them all the time words like after although if once since when while and here are some relative pronouns who which that where who's now actually today I'm not really going to look at relative pronouns we'll do that in our other live classes or you can work with your teacher in a one-on-one tutorial we're just going to look at the subordinating conjunctions here are the two simple sentences from before now if I want to join these two sentences together create a complex sentence I need to use a word from the box above look through those words which words could join these two sentences so we're looking here for conjunctions that show contrast and is more than one so hopefully you noticed these words although even though though whereas and while these are good conjunctions to show contrast so we can start the sentence with the subordinating conjunction like this although many children play computer games others prefer sports and notice that there is a comma here so when you start with a subordinating conjunction you always need a comma after the first clause or we can put the subordinating conjunction in the middle many children play computer games whereas others prefer sports I haven't put a comma here but it is sometimes possible to pop a comma in this place as well you can see how subordinating conjunctions show a relationship between the two parts of the sentence and the subordinating conjunctions should do this in a variety of ways they might be showing a time connection or a contrast connection or conditional connection so that's the first thing that I want you to look at now here's the list from the other page and I want you to take 30 seconds and put each subordinating conjunction in the right column are they showing a relationship of time of contrast of reason or condition I'll do the first one it's after after is showing a time relationship for example after I got home I cooked dinner 30 seconds put them in the right spot you and here they go time conjunctions after when as since until while once contrast although even though though whereas while rather than reason so that as because in order to and conditional even if provided that if unless whether and you'll notice a couple of the words fit into more than one column well now that we've sorted that out try these I'm gonna give you some questions now and this is where I want you to do some work I want you to choose the right word that makes sense to create complex sentences ready choose the most suitable conjunction in these two sentences you and here are the answers in order to improve public health governments and individuals must work together number two gaming can have serious consequences for a child's social skills even if their parents monitor their use let's do three more now choose the most suitable conjunction you and the answers most children will participate in sports provided that they are encouraged and supported because video games are so addictive parents need to be hyper vigilant schools could ban devices during class time so that screen time could be curbed so far so good now let's try a couple more difficult ones this time use the conjunction to join the two sentences together now remember here that you can choose whether to put the conjunction at the start of the sentence or in the middle so I'm going to show you some possible answers but there may be other ways to write the sentence as gaming technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade it is almost irresistible to young minds and competitive sports should be encouraged among children in order to improve health fitness and foster cooperation so let's do two more like this you let's check some children spent up to seven hours a day unsupervised although parents often deny this provided that they are age-appropriate computer games can have a positive impact and here are all four answers keep in mind that these are not the only answers you maybe wrote something different and it could be correct if you want to check put it in the chat box in the comment box and a community will check for you now here is a common error alert this is something that we often see in IELTS writing can you see the problem in this text many schools have banned devices during class time although this is not always a public popular policy can you see the problem here this word this is the problem even though although and however have a similar meaning they use for contrast grammatically we don't use them in the same way so you can't start a sentence although comma and then put half a sentence after it it doesn't make sense what we need to do is join these two sentences together with this conjunction like this many schools have banned devices during class time although this is not always a popular policy or you can move it to the start as we saw before although it is not always a popular policy comma many schools and so on so now I'm going to show you a couple of sentences I want you to find and fix the mistake for me here we go you so hopefully you identified the problems here and fix them up like this cases of screen addiction are increasing because mobile devices are now so engaging some parents forbid the use of devices after dark while others are more lenient or of course you could put the conjunctions at the start of the sentences like this so let's review these are two simple sentences we can make a compound sentence by putting a word from fanboys in between them and this is a complex sentence so now it's over to you I'm gonna give you a question and I want you to type your answer or your thoughts into the comments section make sure that you use some subordinating conjunctions if you're feeling confident try some relative pronouns as well remember that to score band 7 in IELTS writing and to avoid scoring band 4 you have to use some complex sentences so even if you don't know or you don't always use all the subordinating conjunctions you need to be confident with at least three or four of them and make sure that you use them in your writing so here is your question and type your answer do computer games have a positive or negative impact on children you don't need to write a whole essay just a few sentences showing me how you can use subordinating conjunctions to create complex sentences now of course for more help jump onto e to language comm we are a hundred percent online test preparation you can submit your writing and your speaking get some feedback from our X examiner's and our expert team of teachers you might like to book a one-on-one tutorial you can go through your writing in depth and in detail and of course you can join our live group classes they are running twice a day and they are a fantastic way to work on your grammar and your vocab and your test skills as well be sure to subscribe like comment and share and I'll see you next time on our you to task of the week bye [Music]

Channel: E2 IELTS

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Id: cBbQ9zB11fA

Length: 18min 18sec (1098 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 03 2019