IELTS Grammar: capital letters

A few people have asked me about using capital letters in different parts of the IELTS test. Here's my advice:

• In the reading and listening tests, they don't care about capital letters. So you can write everything in lowercase or in capitals, and it won't affect your score.
• In the writing test, try to follow the normal rules for capital letters. Grammar books and websites explain these rules in detail. Click here to see a website that summarises the rules quite well.

Comments

[Sanjaya Acharya]

Yesterday, I attended the General IELTS Test here in Germany.
In listening I made simple mistakes by being over-smart; trying to see two or three questions more before I hear the one I should be concentrating on.

Reading again was horrible because I could not find the answers through scanning or skimming and thus could not manage the time.

In writing Task 1 was satisfactory where as in Task 2 I believe I went a little out of track. Question was:

Internet and televisions are the strong means of media in today's world. Some people believe that radios will be totally replaced by them. Do you agree or disagree.

Speaking was better compared to others to be honest.

[hakan]

Hi Simon
I am Hakan.We would like to get IElTS 6.5 degree.How ccan we take this degree from Turkey?or FCE please help me immediately Simon.

[khan]

Dear Hakan
It is simple. I can answer this question for you. Study hard.

[Ami]

hii simone

i just wanted to ask you that i got 5.5 in rading and speaking...and 6 band in writing and 6.5 in listening.My overall band is 6. i have to get 6.5 band with no less then 6 band in each module.So how many days of preparation is required?i wanted to book my test date after one month. and please give me practice tips. Thank you very much for your time and consideration i really appreciate it!

[Simon]

Hi Sanjaya,

Thanks for sharing. Maybe you should read this lesson about skimming and scanning:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/05/ielts-reading-skimming-and-scanning.html

...

Hi Hakan,

Just find your local test centre and take the test. Here's the link you need:

http://www.ielts.org//test_centre_search/search_results.aspx?TestCentreSearchSubRegion=e3558551-b48c-40f0-b5f9-8117ac060df8

...

Hi Ami,

It's impossible for me to say how many days you need. Just do as much practice and preparation as you can. All of my tips are here in the lessons on the site.

Good luck!

[alex]

Hi Simon,

I am Alex. Can you help me and clarify me what exactly is put on word account ? I search information in web but there are too many opinions and I'm confused :)

Thank you

[Simon]

Hi Alex,

It's simple. Every word is counted as one word, even "a", "I" and numbers (e.g. 1999).

[Thanh]

Hi Simon,
The other day my IELTS teacher told me that I have to have capital letter in direction words (North, South, ...) when I wrote them without capital in a listening test else I'll lose points. So I'm just wondering ...

[Simon]

Hi Thanh,

You won't lose points for that in the listening test.

[Anuar]

Hi, Simon!
You said it wouldn't make difference to write all in lowercase, so does this mean we can write names and places in lowercase?

[sonia]

Hi simon

my first IELTS' overall band is 5.0 .i got 5.5 in listening and speaking and 4.5 band in writing and reading . i have to get 6.0 band with no less then 5.5 band in each module.i always don't have enough time to finish my reading and writing.last test,I just finished only half and one reading passages ，and writing task 2. I have no idea for My reading speed .always don't know how to describe task1's paragraph .my next test is February 25 ，can u give me practice tips. Thank you very much for your time .

[Simon]

Hi Anuar,

Yes, in the listening and reading tests you can write everything in lowercase if you want.

...

Hi Sonia,

There are too many tips for me to describe here. You'll need to go through my lessons to learn more.

In your case, my main tip is that you need to focus on FINISHING the reading and writing tests. You just need to keep practising until this becomes easier.

[Sergei]

Hi Simon
The question is: do we have to use capital letters if an answer is a name or a name of the road ( for example: Oxford Street)? Will it be a mistake?Thank you)
- Sergei, Russia

[Naresh]

what if I write, "Central" rather than CENTRAL or central, is this answer is acceptable in ielts listening?

[Mandy]

Hi Simon,

I am Mandy. I have two questions :) The first one:Is it necessary to write things in capitals in both Listening and Reading part, if i want to use capital letters? The second one:Does 27.01.1973(a date written in this way)count a number, not three?

Thanks a lot if you can help me to solve my problem.