In the IELTS Speaking test, the examiner may ask you about a recent change. The topic could be your home town or country, your work, the environment, fashion, eating habits, people’s lifestyle, etc. In order to answer well, you need to use tenses correctly. In this post I will give you a useful grammar tip.
Comparing past and present
The simplest and safest way to answer this type of question is to compare the present situation with the past. For example:
Examiner: Have shopping habits changed in your country in recent years?
Candidate: Yes, very much. In the past people in my country went shopping more often. Nowadays, because of the economic crisis, we are spending less money.
The candidate uses the past simple (went) to talk about a past situation and the present continuous (we are spending) to talk about a present trend in progress. Although the answer is not very ‘ambitious’, the candidate does not make any mistakes and gives a clear response.
Describing a change over time
To get a very high band in the IELTS test, you need to show that you can use complex grammatical structures. Take a look at this answer:
Examiner: Have shopping habits changed in your country in recent years?
Candidate: Yes, they have. In the past, people used to go shopping very often. However, because of the economic crisis, we have become much more economical.
In this answer, the candidate uses the structure used to + infinitive (people used to go) to describe a past habit and the present perfect simple (we have become) to describe a change that started in the past and is complete in the present.
Useful tip!
Do not try to use a structure that you are unsure about. If you are not feeling confident or if you are not well-prepared, then keep it simple. It is better to give a clear, simple answer than hesitate or say something that the examiner cannot understand.
This FREE eBook Shows You What Kinds of Tasks and Questions to Expect in the IELTS Speaking Test.
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