IELTS Academic Language Foundations Syllabus

Language Foundations syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Language Foundations in IELTS Academic, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Essential Grammar

   4 topics

   • Tenses and Aspect
   • Articles and Determiners
   • Prepositions
   • Subject-Verb Agreement
2. 2

   Complex Sentence Structures

   4 topics

   • Relative Clauses
   • Conditionals
   • Passive Voice
   • Reported Speech
3. 3

   Vocabulary Building

   4 topics

   • Academic Word List
   • Collocations and Word Families
   • Topic-based Vocabulary
   • Synonyms and Paraphrasing
4. 4

   Spelling and Punctuation

   3 topics

   • Common Spelling Patterns
   • British vs American Spelling
   • Punctuation Rules

Language Foundations flashcards for IELTS Academic

22 of 50 cards from the Language Foundations deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the form and main use of the present perfect tense?

   Form: have/has + past participle (e.g., 'has increased'). It links past events to the present: actions at an unspecified past time, life experiences, or situations continuing until now, often with 'since', 'for', 'already', 'yet'. Example: 'Sales have risen since 2010.'

2. When must you use the past simple instead of the present perfect?

   Use the past simple for actions completed at a specific, finished past time, usually with time markers such as 'in 1990', 'last year', 'yesterday', 'two decades ago'. Example: 'The population grew rapidly in the 1980s' (NOT 'has grown in the 1980s').

3. What is the difference between simple and continuous (progressive) aspect?

   Simple aspect presents an action as complete, habitual, or a general fact ('Water boils at 100°C'). Continuous aspect (be + verb-ing) presents an action as ongoing, temporary, or in progress at a point in time ('The economy is growing'). Stative verbs (know, believe, own) are normally not used in the continuous.

4. Which tense is standard for describing trends in an IELTS Task 1 graph with future projections, and what forms express prediction?

   Past data uses the past simple; projections use 'will + verb', 'is expected to + verb', 'is projected to + verb', or 'is forecast to + verb'. Example: 'The figure is projected to reach 40% by 2030.'

5. What are the three articles in English and their basic functions?

   'A' and 'an' (indefinite): first mention of a singular countable noun or any non-specific member of a group ('an' before vowel sounds). 'The' (definite): a specific noun known to both writer and reader, or something unique (the sun, the government). Zero article: plural or uncountable nouns used generally ('Education is important').

6. When is the zero article (no article) required?

   Before uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns used in a general sense ('Pollution harms cities'; 'Computers are useful'), before most proper nouns (countries, cities, languages), and in fixed phrases (go to school, at work, by car). Exceptions: 'the' with plural country names (the Netherlands, the USA) and unique items.

7. What is the difference between 'few / a few' and 'little / a little'?

   'Few' and 'a few' go with plural countable nouns; 'little' and 'a little' go with uncountable nouns. With 'a', the meaning is positive ('a few options' = some); without 'a', the meaning is negative or insufficient ('few options' = almost none; 'little time' = not enough time).

8. What is the rule for 'much', 'many', 'a lot of', and 'amount/number of'?

   'Many' and 'number of' pair with countable nouns ('many studies', 'a large number of students'); 'much' and 'amount of' pair with uncountable nouns ('much research', 'a large amount of money'). 'A lot of / plenty of' work with both but are less formal in academic writing.

9. Which prepositions describe change and difference with numbers (e.g., in IELTS Task 1)?

   'Increase/decrease BY' = the size of the change ('rose by 10%'); 'increase/decrease TO' = the final value ('rose to 60%'); 'FROM ... TO ...' = start and end points; 'AT' = a fixed level or peak ('peaked at 500'); 'an increase OF 10%' after the noun form.

10. What are the standard prepositions of time: 'in', 'on', 'at'?

    'In' for months, years, seasons, centuries, and longer periods (in 2020, in summer); 'on' for days and dates (on Monday, on 5 June); 'at' for clock times and points (at 6 pm, at night, at the weekend in British English).

11. Give the correct dependent prepositions for: depend, responsible, interested, capable, and 'result'.

    Depend ON, responsible FOR, interested IN, capable OF; 'result IN' = cause an outcome ('smoking results in disease'), while 'result FROM' = be caused by ('disease results from smoking').

12. What is the basic rule of subject-verb agreement?

    A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb. The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with nouns in intervening phrases: 'The number of students HAS risen' ('number' is the head, not 'students').

13. How do 'the number of' and 'a number of' differ in verb agreement?

    'The number of + plural noun' takes a singular verb because 'number' is the subject ('The number of cars has increased'). 'A number of + plural noun' means 'several' and takes a plural verb ('A number of cars have been sold').

14. What verb form follows 'each', 'every', 'everyone', 'either', and 'neither' used alone?

    They are grammatically singular and take singular verbs: 'Each of the students has a book'; 'Everyone agrees'; 'Neither of the options is ideal'. With 'either...or / neither...nor' joining two subjects, the verb agrees with the nearer subject (proximity rule).

15. How do collective nouns like 'government', 'team', and 'family' agree with verbs?

    In British English they may take singular or plural verbs depending on whether the group is seen as a unit ('The government has decided') or as individuals ('The team are arguing'). American English strongly prefers the singular. In IELTS writing, be consistent; singular is the safe choice.

16. Which relative pronouns are used for people, things, possession, place, and time?

    'Who' (people, subject), 'whom' (people, formal object), 'which' (things), 'that' (people or things in defining clauses only), 'whose' (possession, people or things), 'where' (places), 'when' (times), 'why' (reasons after 'the reason').

17. What is the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses?

    A defining (restrictive) clause identifies which noun is meant and has no commas: 'Students who study daily perform better.' A non-defining clause adds extra, removable information, is set off by commas, and cannot use 'that': 'My tutor, who lives in Leeds, is retiring.'

18. When can the relative pronoun be omitted from a relative clause?

    Only in a defining clause when the pronoun is the OBJECT of the clause: 'the book (that) I read'. It cannot be omitted when it is the subject ('the man who called') or in any non-defining clause.

19. How is a reduced relative clause formed?

    Delete the relative pronoun and the verb 'be': active meaning takes -ing ('the students studying abroad' = who are studying), passive meaning takes the past participle ('the data collected in 2020' = which was collected). This is a compact, academic style.

20. What are the structures and uses of the zero and first conditionals?

    Zero conditional: If + present simple, present simple — for general truths ('If water freezes, it expands'). First conditional: If + present simple, will + base verb — for real future possibilities ('If taxes rise, spending will fall'). Never put 'will' in the if-clause.

21. What is the structure and meaning of the second conditional?

    If + past simple, would + base verb. It expresses unreal or hypothetical present/future situations: 'If governments invested more, poverty would decline.' 'Were' is preferred for all persons in formal style: 'If I were the mayor...'

22. What is the structure and meaning of the third conditional?

    If + past perfect, would have + past participle. It describes unreal past situations and their imagined past results: 'If the policy had been introduced earlier, the crisis would have been avoided.'

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