English Grammar for IELTS & TOEFL: Tenses & Common Mistakes

Use the past simple for finished actions at a specific past time ("I studied English in 2020"). Use the present perfect for past actions connected to now, with no specific time ("I have studied English for five years"). A common mistake is "I have studied English in 2020" — a specific past time needs the past simple.

In Writing and Speaking, mixing these up is one of the most frequent accuracy errors. Getting it right signals control of tense, which examiners reward.

Use the past perfect for an action completed before another past action: "By the time the exam started, I had finished revising." It clarifies the order of past events. You don't need it in every sentence — overusing it sounds unnatural — but using it correctly at the right moment shows range.

Articles (a/an/the) — especially missing or extra "the". Subject–verb agreement ("the data show", "each student has"). Run-on sentences and comma splices that should be two sentences. Preposition slips ("depend on", "interested in"). Overusing one linking word ("Moreover" three times in a row).

Most candidates lose accuracy marks to a small set of repeated errors. Identifying your personal recurring mistakes — and fixing them one at a time — raises the grammar criterion faster than studying grammar broadly.

Write or speak under exam conditions, then get feedback that flags the exact errors and explains the rule. Langujet's Writing and Speaking practice highlights grammar slips sentence by sentence and shows the correction, so you learn your own patterns instead of re-reading grammar books.