IELTS Grammar – Noun Phrases

Using Noun Phrases in IELTS Speaking

In many IELTS Speaking questions, you have to talk about your whole country and all the people inside it.

For example:

How do people celebrate New Years in your country?
What kinds of advertising are popular in your country?
Is it popular to learn English in your country?

In this case, you should try to share what it’s like to be in your country. One way to do this is to use Noun Phrases.

What are noun phrases?

Noun Phrases sound complicated, but actually, they are just adding specific details to nouns.

The detail we’re going to add after the noun is a Gerund.

Here are some examples from my IELTS grammar course.

Say what people do

To describe what it’s like in your country, the Gerund can be an example of an action or a behaviour at specific times, in specific places, during cultural events and so on.

Some easy phrases you can use are:

“You can see people + Gerund.”
“There are lots of people + Gerund.”

Because people are nouns, we can see detail to them. Here are some example sentences:

“If you go to the park on a sunny day, [you can see people walking] their dogs, [playing] with their kids and [relaxing] on the grass.”
“If you go to the train station early in the morning, [there are lots of commuters waiting] on the platforms to get on the train.”
“Nowadays there are more [adults learning] English or [using] apps to learn it.”

It also allows you to be very specific. This is useful when talking about cultural events.

“On New Year’s Eve, [you can hear people shooting] fireworks and [playing] loud music.”
“If you go to the supermarket a few days before Christmas, [you will see lots of people panicking] and [buying] last minute gifts.”

! – Tip – ! Remember – we’re not making the present continuous with this, so don’t use “be” or “is” before the Gerund.

So think about what you can physically SEE people doing in your country to give a clearer example.

How would you answer these questions from the beginning?

How do people celebrate New Years in your country? – “In England most people host or go to a party with friends or family and see in the new year. We stay up until the countdown and when the clock strikes 12, people cheer or hug or make speeches about their hopes and wishes for the year ahead. If you go on the streets at midnight, [you will see people shooting fireworks] and [playing] loud music to celebrate.”
What kinds of advertising are popular in your country? – “There is so much advertising in England, I would say every kind of advertising is popular. In the cities [you can see buses carrying posters] of upcoming films or TV shows. One place in London is even a tourist attraction for advertisements, called Piccadilly Circus. It’s an junction in London [with huge TV screens showing] brand names and posters for famous companies. So there’s advertising everywhere to be honest.”