Congratulations to Sophia on passing her test.

Here's a funny thing. Sophia's task 2 topic was one of the first tasks I've ever made a video about on my YouTube channel, and I'll link that sample answer in the next post.

The speaking topic about wild animals was the same as I was asked in one of my early exams, and I was completely stunned as a 20-something year old when I was asked a topic for a 6 year old.

The lesson is topics are regularly repeated, so you don't have to hunt for the latest topics. And keep on going, you can pass your test too.

Sample Answer to Sofia’s Topic: https://fastrackielts.com/ielts-writing-task-2-sample-science

Happy Thursday, guys! 😃 Hope you're having a great week! Today I'd like to share with you some tips on how to make any IELTS Writing (or Speaking) sentence complex.

Here's a little exercise for you. Turn these simple sentences into complex sentences with relative clauses. Ready? 😎

I bought a new car. It is very fast.

I live in London. It has some amazing parks.

A woman called me. She is my new colleague.

I'll publish my answers tomorrow! 🤓

Guys, you're doing amazingly well! Most of your sentences are correct, apart from one important thing.

YOUR PUNCTUATION. ☠️

To get a high score for your grammar, most of your sentences must have no mistakes at all, not even missing commas.

HERE ARE THE RULES: ❗️WHO (PEOPLE)

Can you remove the clause from the sentence?

❌ If no, you don’t need any commas:
The boy who wears a red t-shirt is my son.
(The boy is my son. = This sentence is not clear. Which boy?)

✅ If yes, put commas:
My son, who wears a red t-shirt, is five years old.
(My son is five years old. = This sentence is clear)

❗️WHICH/THAT (THINGS)

Can you remove the clause from the sentence?

❌ If no, use THAT and NO commas.
The bike that I left outside has been stolen. (The bike has been stolen. = This sentence is not clear. What bike?)

✅ If yes, use WHICH and put COMMAS.
My bike, which I left outside, has been stolen.
(My bike has been stolen. = This sentence is clear.)

THE ANSWERS (RELATIVE CLAUSES)

QUESTION 1.
I bought a car that is very fast.
I bought a car, which is very fast.
(Both options are correct.)

QUESTION 2.
I live in London, which has some amazing parks.
(We are adding some extra information about parks. Don’t forget the comma!)

QUESTION 3.
The woman who called me is my new colleague.
(Use “who” when talking about people.
The sentence “The woman is my new colleague” is not clear, which means that we can’t remove the relative clause. Therefore, we don’t need commas.)

Guys, have you taken an IELTS exam recently? 🧑‍🎓
Help your fellow IELTS students by sharing your topics below 👇

Please include the month when you took the test
#recent

👉 Writing Task 1 Academic Topics

👉 Writing Task 1 General Training Topics

👉 Writing Task 2 Topics

👉 IELTS Speaking Topics