Siddharth from Nagpur told his whole Part 2 story about a childhood trip to a Tamil Nadu hill station in the present tense: “We go to Ooty, we see the lake…” His talk had almost no grammatical variety.

IELTS Speaking grammar is judged on a mix of simple and complex structures used accurately. The easiest way to show range is to let each question choose your tense: past for stories, present perfect for experience, conditionals for “what if” situations.

What Band 6 and Band 7 Look Like in Grammar

Grammatical Range and Accuracy looks at how many structures you use, how long your sentences are, and how many errors they contain.

At Band 6, the descriptor mentions a mix of short and complex sentences and a variety of structures with limited flexibility. Errors frequently occur in complex structures, but they rarely impede communication.

At Band 7, a range of structures is used flexibly and error-free sentences are frequent. Simple and complex sentences are used effectively despite some errors, and a few basic errors persist.

Match Your Tense to the Question Type

Listen to each question and choose the structure that fits its time frame. For an overview of every form, see our lesson on all twelve English tenses.

Question type Natural tense or structure Example
Describe a past event Past simple and continuous I was living in Pune when I started college.
Your experience Present perfect simple I have visited Kerala twice for family holidays.
Your routine Present simple with adverbs I usually jog every morning before starting work.
The future Future with ‘will’ or ‘going to’ I am going to apply for postgraduate courses.
An unreal situation Second conditional If I had more time, I would volunteer.

Three Tense Slips Some Indian Speakers Make

Watch for three habits: a continuous form with a state verb, the present perfect with a finished time, and “since” with a period of time. Standard English treats all three as errors.

Incorrect: “I am knowing him since five years.”

Correct: “I’ve known him for five years.”

“Know” is a state verb, and a period of time takes “for”.

Incorrect: “I have visited Kerala last year.”

Correct: “I visited Kerala last year.”

A finished time such as “last year” takes the past simple. Our lesson on the present perfect explains when to use it.

Incorrect: “Yesterday I go to the market.”

Correct: “Yesterday I went to the market.”

A past time word needs a past verb form.

For more, see our guide to common tense errors.

Accuracy Comes Before Complexity

This is advice, not an IELTS rule: one clean complex sentence is worth more than three broken ones. Connectors such as “although”, “because” and “while”, a conditional, or a relative clause are an accessible way to build complex sentences.

Practise with our lessons on conditional sentences and relative clauses.

Tip

Listen to the auxiliary in the question. “Did you…?” asks for the past simple, and “Have you ever…?” invites “Yes, I have”, then the past simple for the details.

Self-Correction: How Much Is Too Much?

A quick self-correction is normal in conversation. The Band 7 descriptor accepts some hesitation, repetition or self-correction when coherence is not affected, while the Band 6 descriptor says coherence may be lost at times.

So if you make a slip, correct it once cleanly or keep going. Restarting every sentence is a pattern to avoid.

Sample Part 2 Answer: Natural Tense Shifts

Here is part of a Part 2 talk that moves between tenses.

Sample answer (illustrative Band 7)

I’d like to talk about a memorable trip to Manali that I took two years ago. We were travelling by bus through Himachal Pradesh when it broke down near a quiet village. Although it was freezing cold, some villagers invited us into their home for hot tea. I have visited several mountain destinations since then, but I’ve never experienced hospitality quite like that. If I had the chance to go back tomorrow, I would definitely return to that village.

Why it works:

  • Past simple and past continuous set the scene: “took”, “were travelling”, “broke down”, “invited”.
  • Present perfect connects the past to the present: “have visited”, “I’ve never experienced”.
  • Second conditional imagines an unlikely situation: “If I had the chance … I would definitely return”.

To prepare stories that suit different cards, see our guide to task card types.

Try It

Rewrite these four sentences, correcting tense errors that some Indian speakers make.

  1. I am living in Delhi since 2020.
  2. Last week she has bought a new car.
  3. If it will rain tomorrow, we stay at home.
  4. I am agreeing with that opinion completely.
Show sample answer
  1. I have lived in Delhi since 2020.
  2. Last week she bought a new car.
  3. If it rains tomorrow, we will stay at home.
  4. I agree with that opinion completely.

Key Takeaways

  • Band 7 describes flexible structures and frequent error-free sentences.
  • Match your tense to the time frame the question sets.
  • Use “for” with a period of time and “since” with a starting point.
  • Prioritise accurate complex sentences over risky ones that break down.
  • Occasional self-correction is normal, but constant restarting disrupts fluency.

The bottom line: Let the question choose your tense, keep each sentence clean, and your grammar will sound natural without sounding rehearsed.