IELTS Cheat Sheet: Subjects, Verbs, the "S" Rule, and Tense Consistency

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Source: ielts-subject-verb-tense-cheatsheet.md
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CHEAT SHEET

Subjects, verbs, the "S" rule, and the timeline.
Two pages. Four errors. Nothing else.

1. The "S" Rule

One single "s" between the subject and the verb. Never two, never zero.

Check gesture: If upon re-reading you see two "s" endings or zero "s" endings, something is wrong. That is the only thing you need to check.

WRONG RIGHT
The evidence suggest otherwise. The evidence suggests otherwise.
Trust take years to build. Trust takes years to build.
Research on this topic remain limited. Research on this topic remains limited.
The percentage are rising. The percentage is rising.
There was more men in that sector. There were more men in that sector.
Nobody understand how long it takes. Nobody understands how long it takes.

2. Tricky Subjects

These feel plural. They are not. Verb in singular, always.

Subject Verb Subject Verb Subject Verb
evidence suggests research remains news spreads
trust takes information is advice is
nobody understands everyone assumes everything changes
politics affects percentage is difference was
neither explains each requires money is

Note on Data: Data is an ambiguous case: singular in Speaking ("the data doesn't lie"), plural in strict Academic Writing ("the data do not lie"). Pick one and stick to it within the same text.

3. The Nucleus Rules, Not Words Attached to the Verb

When words are placed between the subject and the verb, instinct incorrectly agrees with the last word heard. Cover the words in the middle with your finger and look at the true subject.

WRONG RIGHT
The difference in these roles were small. The difference in these roles was small.
Neither of the two diagnoses fully explain it. Neither of the two diagnoses fully explains it.
The number of patients have risen. The number of patients has risen.

Underlined = the word in control: If you cover "in these roles", "The difference was small" comes out naturally.

4. The Five Forms of Any Verb

If you doubt a tense, walk up the mental ladder. It takes two seconds and gets you back on track.

Verb Present Past Present Perfect Past Continuous Conditional
be she is she was she has been she was being she would be
have he has he had he has had he was having he would have
feel he feels he felt he has felt he was feeling he would feel
know he knows he knew he has known (stative: no cont.) he would know

Irregular Verbs Lost Under Pressure

WRONG RIGHT WRONG RIGHT WRONG RIGHT
goed went haved had feeled felt
taked took losed lost teached taught
finded found meeted met catched caught
keeped kept thinked thought knowed knew

Read them only in their correct form, out loud, three times. Do not repeat the incorrect ones.

5. Losing the Timeline

You start in the past, and by the third or fourth sentence—just when the story gets interesting—the verb drops to the present. It is not grammar: your attention went to the content and stopped monitoring the form.

WRONG RIGHT
When I was seven, my grandmother gives me a radio and it has two speakers. When I was seven, my grandmother gave me a radio and it had two speakers.
Three years ago I have a patient who refuses to speak. Three years ago I had a patient who refused to speak.
I went home that day and I feel exhausted but hopeful. I went home that day feeling exhausted but hopeful.

Last pair tip: If in doubt, deactivate the verb with a gerund. "Feeling" has no tense, so it cannot contradict the narrative timeline.

Rescue Protocol — Three Steps

  1. Do not stop. Finish the sentence even if the verb came out in the present tense.
  2. Return to the last correct verb, not the start of the story. Restarting is instinct and the worst choice: you waste 15 seconds and the error is heard twice.
  3. Repeat it in past tense and move on: "...and she sits next to me — she sat next to me, and we listened to music." A clean substitution is not penalized; restarting the sentence is.

Two Safe Bets Before Speaking

  1. Pre-decide the tense. During your 1-minute preparation, write PAST at the top of the paper and underline it. If the card says "Describe a time when...", the entire response is past tense.
  2. Authorize the closing phrase in advance. The only place you leave the past is the final sentence: "Looking back, that experience taught me..." or "I've never really forgotten it." Having the exception planned prevents the present tense from creeping in middle-way.

30-Second Anchor — Before Entering