hi there it's Asiya and today I want to show you some features of
formal English writing that are usually used by those who have
really advanced English skills but you can
learn them too and use in your essays to make
your writing more complex just make sure you use them correctly that's because
if your complexity goes up but your accuracy
falls your score might well go down but if your complexity and accuracy
both go up your score will follow ready? let's get started!
the first thing that advanced English writers do
is they soften their language in English if you're too direct it may
be perceived as a bit rude aggressive and simplistic
native speakers usually soften their language
and there are two ways to do that the first way is to use modal verbs
could would might mean these modal verbs create this sense of
probability possibility it's not a statement
anymore and yes in ielts writing if you know how to use modal verbs
correctly you get some extra points for your
grammar i have some examples for you here is the first sentence
banning cars from city centers will alleviate the problem of air pollution
that's a statement we are absolutely certain
but probably we aren't so you could write
cars from city centers may alleviate the problem of air pollution
here is another one some people consider physical education
at school unnecessary a softer more polite way to say that
would be some people might consider physical
education at school to be unnecessary when not stating their
will but we suspect that they might
the meaning is still clear and if you've noticed at the
end of this sentence i also inserted to be they consider physical education
to be unnecessary that's a more formal way to say it and yes
using modern verbs in your writing is considered to be a complex
grammatical structure so you get extra points for that the
second way to soften your english is to use verbs seem
and appear the first phrase is it appears that for instance
it appears that at some point diesel cars were considered to be more
environmentally friendly than cars with patrol
engines it appears that or we can say it seems that's what
happened in the uk and that's why we have so many
diesel cars on the roads another phrase is it would seem that
or it seems that it would seem that no action needs to be
taken the second feature i want to show you today
is called inversion not many language students use it it's a highly complex
feature but you can easily learn it so what is
inversion let me show you an example never have the results of global warming
been more apparent this is
an inverted sentence the normal sentence would be
the result of global warming have never been more apparent
inversion happens in english for emphasis we really emphasize
that these changes or the results have never been more apparent so the
emphasis is on never the
the structure is quite dramatic but it is formal and it's
perfect for your task to assess to invert a sentence we need to change
the word order and actually it's very similar to asking a question
let me show you the normal sentence is first we have our subject
then the auxiliary or modal verb so auxiliary verbs are do does
will have has had then we put the adverb in the main verb
for instance such rapid changes have never occurred before
to invert the sentence we need to put the
adverb first never then the auxiliary verb have
then our subject such rabbit changes the main verb occurred and the rest of
the sentence before and then the inverted sentences
never have such rapid changes occurred before
this sentence isn't present perfect we already have the auxiliary verb
have but sometimes there is no auxiliary verb in the normal sentence
for instance in present simple he really comes to school on time
no auxiliary verb so we need to add it we put the adverb first
rarely then what verb would you use to ask a question does
he come to school on time it's just like asking a question and
if you use does then you don't need to add s to your main verb you may ask
can i use inversion in any sentence the answer is no there are just several
situations when you can use it but in task 2
you should use it with negative or limiting
adverbs such as never seldom really
scarcely hardly only little nowhere not
and other similar words i think it will be easier for you to get
it if you see several more examples the
first normal sentences
one seldom hears a politician say sorry so we put adverb first seldom
does one hear a politician say sorry and again we use dos because the
sentence is in present simple and this subject
is he and the next sentence is people rarely connect exercise
with mental and emotional well-being
how do you invert it we put adverb first rarely do people connect exercise
with mental and emotional well-being let me show you one more sentence it's a
little bit more complex the normal sentence is students
can only achieve excellent grades by studying extremely hard
so first of all in this sentence we have the modal verb
can and we keep it to invert sentence we use it to invert the sentence and we
say only by studying extremely hard
can students achieve excellent grades you see in this case we didn't just put
the adverb at the beginning of the sentence
we put the whole limiting phrase
only by starting extremely hard otherwise
our new sentence would make no sense as i mentioned this type of inversion is
a little bit more difficult but you can choose where you use it it's
such a specific grammatical structure and using it once in your task two
is enough the next tip is place adverbs within the verb
in informal english we often put adverbs at the beginning or at the end of our
sentences and it's not a mistake but in formal
writing it's better to put them in the middle of
the sentence within your verb let me show you an
example and you will understand what i'm talking about
the rainwater is collected into a large reservoir then it is filtered
so the key word is then and it's at the beginning of the sentence
it's better to write the sentence like this
collected rain water is then filtered you see it's inside the verb
in this way it attracts less attention and if your adverbs if your linking
words attract less attention that's a sign of
a really high score for your coherence and cohesion
okay where exactly should you place your adverbs
well if you only have the main verb put it before the verb companies
often consider if you have an auxiliary verb
put it after the auxiliary verb companies have often considered
if you have a modal verb again place it right after companies might
often considered or might often consider and sometimes
we may have two auxiliary verbs particularly
in the passive voice in this case place it
after the first one this proposal has often been considered now let's talk
about linking words you can place some of them
within your verb in exactly the same way here is an example
excessive use of fossil fuels contributes to global warming
however there may be other reasons for climate change
linking word is however and let's move it
there may however be other reasons for climate change we place it
right after our modal verb me and please don't forget to put a comma
before and after your linking word here is another
example a study showed that bilingual children
did better than monolinguals in intelligence tests therefore
it is advisable to teach children to speak
two or more languages from an early age the linking word is therefore again
let's move it it is therefore advisable to
teach children and so on please note that in this sentence the verb is to be
and we place it right after our verb it is therefore advisable and again we
put a comma before and after our linking word again
it's not a mistake to begin your sentence with the linking word
it's all right and you can do it but if you hide them
inside your sentences your transition will be smoother
and this link between sentences will attract no attention and that's a
sign of a really high score for your coherence and cohesion
my next tip is simple avoid using very very important
very strong very large do you often use it in your writing
if it's once or twice it's okay but if you
overuse it it's problematic and i'm talking about several ways to avoid
using very and some other tips that will help
you elevate your writing in this video
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation
and your exam bye