Are you planning to take the Pearson’s Test of English (PTE) and aiming for a top score? If so, then remember, the Pearson’s Test of English requires you to prepare each part of the test effectively, including the writing module. Success in PTE writing depends on your ability to combine effective storytelling with strong grammar skills.
Remember, grammar forms the foundation of your writing. It enables you to craft clear and compelling sentences, ensuring your ideas are communicated effectively. Recognizing its importance, we’ve put together this guide to help you excel. Here are five crucial grammar rules you need to master for PTE writing, along with tips to apply them in your responses.
🔤 Adopting Grammar Rules in Your PTE Writing
Learning grammar rules is just the first step — it doesn’t necessarily guarantee flawless application in your writing. Instead, adopting these essential grammar standards in your writing will require consistent practice and attention to detail. Developing this habit will help you apply grammar principles with confidence and precision.
You can also take advantage of free online resources like QuillBot Ai to check grammar accurately. This will eliminate the need for a dedicated mentor to highlight your grammatical errors. Instead, you can independently identify and correct errors using an online grammar check tool. Regular practice and self-analysis of grammatical errors with a tool will help ensure you're well-prepared for PTE writing & will also build a strong foundation for clear and impactful communication
📚 5 Important English Grammar Rules for PTE Writing
➥ Rule 1. Subject-Verb Agreement
The subject and verb are the core components of every sentence. It is essential to ensure the appropriate relationship between them for clear communication. When the subject and verb don’t agree in a statement, sentences become awkward and confusing.
In PTE writing, the computer automatically detects a mistake in subject-verb agreement, which impacts your scores. That’s why it is essential to follow this rule, which states that verbs must match the subject in terms of numbers.
When writing simple or compound sentences, make sure that singular subjects take singular verbs and the plural ones take plural verbs. Most learners need to start using plural verbs with singular indefinite pronouns. You should avoid this blunder at all costs.
📌 Examples
❌ Incorrect:
- Everyone are excited to go on a trip.
- George and David playsfootball.
✅ Correct:
- Everyone is excited to go on a trip.
- George and David play football.
➥ Rule 2. Correct Use of Articles (a, an, the)
Articles - a, an,and the may be small words, but they are vital to sentence-making in writing. They are used to clarify meanings and specify nouns. However, many PTE candidates struggle with the proper use of articles, which can affect their scores.
Remember, a minor misplacement of the articles can produce a significant problem for you in your Writing score. Therefore, properly using these tiny yet powerful words is crucial.
• “A” and “An”: These are indefinite articles used before singular nouns.
- Use“a” before words that start with a consonant sound.
- Use“an” before words that start with a vowel sound.
• “The”: This is a definite article used to point to specific nouns that the reader already knows or can identify.
📌 Examples
❌ Incorrect:
- He bought a apple from the store.
- The book on a table is mine.
- She needs an bicycle to go to the market.
✅ Correct:
- He bought an apple from the store.
- The book on the table is mine.
- She needs a bicycle to go to the market.
By mastering the correct use of articles, you can improve the precision and readability of your writing, ensuring better scores in the PTE exam.
➥ Rule 3. Accurate Punctuation Usage
Punctuation is the backbone of every sentence. Proper use of the punctuation is necessary to guide the reader through your ideas. In PTE writing, misplaced or incorrect punctuation can lead to miscommunication, which can lower the scores significantly.
You must correctly use the key punctuation marks such as commas, periods, semicolons, and apostrophes. The simple rules to remember are:
- Commas separate ideas or items within a sentence.
- Periods mark the end of a statement.
- Semicolons connect closely related ideas.
- Apostrophes indicate possession. For nouns ending in “s,” place the apostrophe after the “s.” For other nouns, the apostrophe comes before the “s.”
📌 Examples
❌ Incorrect:
- The father bought toys fruits and a bicycle for his children.
- The cats head was injured in a road accident.
- The meeting was long everyone felt exhausted by the end.
✅ Correct:
- The father bought toys, fruits, and a bicycle for his children.
- The cat’s head was injured in a road accident.
- The meeting was long; everyone felt exhausted by the end.
➥ Rule 4. Structure Sentences Correctly
A common mistake many PTE aspirants make in writing is the wrong sentence formation. Remember, a poorly structured sentence doesn’t convey your desired message. Rather, improper sentence formation could be one of the reasons for your low scores in PTE.
So, whether you are writing a simple or compound sentence, organize the subjects, verbs, and objects correctly.
For simple sentences, follow this structure: Subject + Verb + Object (if applicable).
For compound sentences, join two independent clauses using coordinating conjunctions like and, but, or so.
📌 Examples
❌ Incorrect:
- She is excited about the job start.
- I went to the store, and I buy groceries.
✅ Correct:
- She is excited to start the job.
- I went to the store and bought groceries.
Organizing your sentences correctly will make your writing coherent and professional.
➥ Rule 5. Avoid Using Double Comparatives
In English grammar, comparative adjectives are usually used when comparing two or more things. Sometimes, these adjectives already occur in their superlative forms. It often happens when they end with "-est,” such as smallest, fastest, etc.
In these situations, adding comparative degrees like “more” and “most” is incorrect. This creates redundancy in comparison, so make sure that you avoid it at all costs. Even if the comparative adjectives are used in their standard forms, such as bigger or faster, never use the other comparative degree as it is not grammatically correct.
Avoiding double comparatives and superlatives in PTE writing shows you have a strong knowledge of grammar rules. This increases your chances of scoring more numbers in the writing portion, ultimately positively influencing your overall scores.
📌 Examples
❌ Incorrect:
- My car is more faster than my friend’s bike.
- This is the most smallest item in our store.
✅ Correct:
- My car is faster than my friend’s bike.
- This is the smallest item present in our store.
✍️ Wrapping Up
Now that you’re familiar with the five essential grammar rules for PTE writing, you can approach the writing section with greater confidence. By consistently applying these principles, you’ll enhance your clarity, accuracy, and overall performance.
With regular practice and attention to these rules, you’re well on your way to acing PTE writing and achieving your desired score. Best of luck!
