Common Tense Errors in IELTS

Different types of tense mistakes are made by the students in forming sentences. While students who receive 5 Band have basic mistakes in writing as well as speaking, students getting 7 or above may be committing mistakes when writing complex sentences.
Let us first study the different types of tenses along with examples and common errors.
There are three types of tenses used to form sentences in order to express emotions and thoughts viz. past, present and future. Following are the rules given in the tabular form that can help you remember how to form a sentence at what time or in which situation.
Before you learn the different types of tenses, understand the terms used for explanation in the table below:
Singular Subject – Refers to 1 person – Example: I, He, She etc.

Plural Subject – Refer to >1 persons – Example: We, They etc.

Assertive sentences: Sentences, ending with full stop (.), implying something is true

Negative Sentences: Sentences with NOT, implying something is untrue

Interrogative Sentences: Sentences ending with question mark (?) that require you to answer

verb (1st),verb (2nd) and verb(2nd) stand for first form of verb, second form of verb and third form of verb respectively.
We will learn the rules of tenses in a very simple way, considering two examples and changing them as per the tense type:

Michael goes to office.
They go to office.

In the first sentence, subject is “Michael”, verb is “go” and object is “office”.
In the second sentence, subject is “they”, verb is “go” and object is “office”.

Similarly, you can understand all tense types as per table below:

Exercises:

Find out tense errors in the following statements:
1. Every day, I enjoyed meeting my friends at college.

2.When it comes to dance, I just loved it.

3. Last year, I graduate from my university.

4. I work hard to get good marks in my exam last year.

Some students preparing for IELTS made tense mistakes while completing their writing tasks. You need to find out such mistakes in the following sentences:

5. Moreover, in the time period of 1996-2002, there were many changes that take place in average house prices.

6. Firstly, the population of Ireland spends their 28.91% money on eatables in 2010.

7. Furthermore, this helped in investing many drugs and machineries which has increased the life expectancy and survival of humans on the earth.

8. Last Sunday, I meet with an accident in your supermarket.

9. For this reason, I can’t write a letter earlier.

10. In addition, I want to take 1 week holidays from my work because my family need me.

11. One more thing, I have get a chance to reduce burden of my family and fulfil the demands of my sister.

12. Unfortunately, within two days, electronic light inside the microwave switch off

13. So, I am not satisfy with the product.

14. I joined a new job because previous company had given low salary package that was not enough for me. So, I have to change my job.

15. Suddenly, one motor bike hit the child and he fall down in the center of road.

16. Inhumane act like beating the animals led to their exploitation.

17. The women read highest number of books in the year of 2011 and they manage to continue growth till 2013.

18. In the past, I have deal with foreign clients and many a times, I have to give presentations.

There are mistakes in the following paragraphs, find out them and write the correct paragraphs:

19. In 2000, People from all age groups spend money on mobiles. Out of these age groups, 75% of them belong to the age group of 14-25 years while 63% of them are between the ages of 26-44 years who spend money on phones.
20. For all the people, those who buy laptops spend up to 12% money. There are hardly 5% of residents from the UK of 45+ years of age who spend money on laptops, whereas 12% of money spent by those who are between 14 to 25 years of age.
21. Percentage of women who obtain undergraduate diplomas were around double than that of the men. Undergraduate diplomas gained by above 65% women in comparison to just below 35% men.
22. The biggest difference in gender was at the post-school level where 75% of men have attained a skilled vocational diploma as compared to just 25% of women.
23. After the year 2015, it was likely that unemployment drop in Spain to approximately 11% in 2020 while in France, it expect to continuously rise.
24. In France, unemployment rate declined modestly from above 5% in the year 2000 before it starts climb in 2005.
25. Typically, a 14-25 year old individual in the UK spend just three quarters of money on a mobile phone. This device not so popular with other age groups.
26. E-readers just as popular as mobile phones with those in 45+ years of age. 38% of money used on purchasing mobile phone, in comparison to 1% and less for an e-reader.
27. Citizens of the UK who are 45 years and older hasn’t completely accepted the laptops yet. They spending 6% more on computers than laptops.

ANSWERS:

1. Every day, I enjoy meeting my friends at college.
2. When it comes to dance, I just love it.
3. Last year, I graduated from my university.
4. I worked hard to get good marks in my exam last year.
5. Moreover, in the time period of 1996-2002, there were many changes that took place in average house prices.
6. Firstly, the population of Ireland spent their 28.91% money on eatables in 2010.
7. Furthermore, this helped in investing many drugs and machineries which have increased the life expectancy and survival of humans on the earth.
8. Last Sunday, I met with an accident in your supermarket.
9. For this reason, I couldn’t write a letter earlier.
10. In addition, I want to take 1 week holidays from my work because my family needs me.
11. One more thing, I have got a chance to reduce burden of my family and fulfil the demands of my sister.
12. Unfortunately, within two days, electronic light inside the microwave switched off.
13. So, I am not satisfied with the product.
14. I joined a new job because company had given low salary package that was not enough for me. So, I had to change my job.
15. Suddenly, one motor bike hit the child and he fell down in the center of road.
16. Inhumane act like beating the animals leads to their exploitation.
17. The women read highest number of books in the year of 2011 and they managed to continue growth till 2013.
18. In the past, I have dealt with foreign clients and many a times, I had to give presentations.
19. In 2000, people from all age groups spent money on mobiles. Out of these age groups, 75% of them belonged to the age group of 14-25 years while 63% of them were between the ages of 26-44 years who spent money on phones.
20. For all the people in 2010, those who bought laptops spent up to 12% money. There were hardly 5% of residents from the UK of 45+ years of age who spent money on laptops, whereas 12% of money was spent by those who were between 14 to 25 years of age.
21. Percentage of women who obtained undergraduate diplomas was around double than that of the men. Undergraduate diplomas were gained by above 65% women in comparison to just below 35% men.
22. The biggest difference in gender was at the post-school level where 75% of men attained a skilled vocational diploma as compared to just 25% of women.
23. After the year 2015, it was likely that unemployment dropped in Spain to approximately 11% in 2020 while in France, it expected to continuously rise.
24. In France, unemployment rate declined modestly from above 5% in the year 2000 before it started climbing in 2005.
25. Typically, a 14-25 year old individual in the UK spends just three quarters of money on a mobile phone. This device is not so popular with other age groups.
26. E-readers are just as popular as mobile phones with those in 45+ years of age. 38% of money is used on purchasing mobile phone, in comparison to 1% and less for an e-reader.
27. Citizens of the UK who are 45 years and older haven’t completely accepted the laptop computers yet. They are spending 6% more on computers than laptops.