Tenses For IELTS Writing Task 2

The tenses are the most important part of IELTS writing task 2 and you need to use a wide range of tenses if you want to get a high band score in your IELTS exam.

Here I listed tenses based on frequently use in your task 2

Present tense

• Present simple(Likely to be used)
• Present continuous(Likely to be used)
• Present perfect simple(Likely to be used)
• Present perfect continuous(Less Likely to be used)

Past Tense

• Past simple(Likely to be used)
• Past continuous(Less Likely to be used)
• Past perfect simple(Less Likely to be used)
• Past perfect continuous(Less Likely to be used)
• Used To(Likely to be used)

Future Tense

• Going to (Less Likely to be used)
• Will(Likely to be used)
• Future Perfect(Less Likely to be used)

Present Simple tense

The majority of current word issues we can talk about present simple tense also general talk always in preset so it is widely used tense

For example

1. While some people believe that music and are an important subject at school, other groups argue that the main focus should be on science and technology. 
2. Majority of children spend at least three hours a day playing video games.
3. myriad people are aware of cybercrime.
4. research into mass exploration often results in advances in technology, such as mass robots.

present continuous

• This term we used when the situation is happening around us
• It is a current situation or action but it is not necessary to happen right now.
• It is often used to talk about trends and about changes happening around now.

For example

1. Due to the globalization, majority of students are studying abroad for a better education.
2. Old people are living longer life owing to the advancement of medical research and technology
3. A majority of educated people are living in city areas than rural.

Present perfect simple

This tense is used a lot in the IELTS exam because many situations are happening in past but have a connection with now.

For example

1. Research into space exploration has resulted in the advancement of technology.
2. since people have started using the internet, information has become more readily available.
3. social media have become one of the main forms of online communication between people over the last few years.
4. The government has built numerous dams, which are still helpful to collect a vast amount of water sources.

Present perfect continuous

• you may occasionally need to use it in IELTS task 2
• the situation which is happening in the past and still continues in the present.

For example

1. in many Asian countries, the growth rate of the population has been increasing for several years.
2. For several decades, farmers have been adding natural fertilizer for enhancing the productivity of their crops.

Past simple tense

This term is used when the situation and event that happened and finished in the past.

For example

1. Several years ago, people often kept the same job for their entire working life
2. Before the invention of social media, people were extroverts.
3. A few decades ago, the authority spent thousand of money to overcome the problem of polio.

past continues tense

• you may not use it quite often
• The situation that happened in the past for a specific time of period and it also happening so we use past continues tenses

For example

1. In the 19th century, the majority of counties were fighting for their independence.

Past perfect tense

• This tense is not common to use in IELTS writing task 2, however, you may use it occasionally.
• you use this tense to talk about a completed event that happened before another action.

For example

1. Before the invention of light, the majority of people had completed their work before evening.

past perfect continuous tense

• you can use this tense occasionally
• This tense is used when the situation is happened before another action in the past and was still continuing.

For example

1. the government of India had been working under the British before India is not independent

used to + infinite

This is a frequent and very useful past form that is used to describe habitual or regularly situations or behavior in the past that is no longer happening 

For example

1. people used to eat a lot of meat but nowadays many people prefer a vegetarian as a regular diet
2. A few decades ago, people used to have a more active lifestyle than they do now. 

Future simple tense

Will + infinite

• We can use this tense whenever we need to represent the future event as well as some of the future opinions.
• We can also use certainly, definitely, probably when opinion is not sure.

For example

1. In 2025, robots will play a vital role in human life.
2. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, there are grounds for believing that autonomous machines will become prevalent.
3. In the future, robots will probably play a greater role in our daily lives.

Going to + infinitive

We use for pre-decide plan or intention and prediction based on evidence.

For example

1. In some countries, the government is going to impose the rule of childbirth due to the high population.
2. Over the next few years, the world bank is going to invest millions of dollars in girls’ education.
3. As all sources of fossil fuels are limited, our planet is going to face energy scarcity.

Tense common problems

1) verb not normally used in continuous form

• like
• dislike
• understand
• agree
• believe
• doubt
• love 
• prefer
• know
• forget
• recognize
• taste
• guess
• want
• need 
• concern