5 grammar patterns that drop your CLB score

Why grammar errors cost more than you think

In CELPIP writing, grammar errors do not just affect the Grammar Accuracy criterion. Repeated errors disrupt the flow of your email or essay, which also reduces your Coherence score. And when an examiner has to re-read a sentence to understand it, your response loses credibility across all criteria.

The good news: the same five grammar patterns account for the majority of errors in CELPIP writing responses. Eliminate these five and you remove most of your grammar risk.

Trap 1 — Tense inconsistency

The most frequent grammar error. Candidates start writing in one tense and drift into another within the same paragraph.

Wrong: "I went to the store yesterday and I see that the product was damaged. I am very disappointed."

Right: "I went to the store yesterday and noticed that the product was damaged. I was very disappointed by this."

Fix: Decide on your main tense before you write. In Task 1, you are usually narrating something that happened (past tense) or making a request (present/future). Pick one and stay consistent throughout.

Trap 2 — Missing or wrong articles (a, an, the)

Articles are one of the clearest markers of English proficiency and one of the hardest patterns for non-native speakers to master. Missing or wrong articles appear in almost every CLB 6 and below response.

Wrong: "I need information about parking situation near office."

Right: "I need information about the parking situation near the office."

The core rule:

• Use the when referring to something specific or already mentioned ("the issue I raised last week")
• Use a/an when introducing something for the first time ("a new policy")
• Use no article for general statements ("Parking can be difficult in downtown areas")

Quick drill: After drafting, highlight every noun in your response. Ask yourself: is this specific? If yes, it likely needs "the."

Trap 3 — Subject-verb agreement with collective nouns

In Canadian English (which is what CELPIP tests), collective nouns take singular verbs. This trips up candidates from many linguistic backgrounds.

Wrong: "My family are planning to visit" / "The team are ready"

Right: "My family is planning to visit" / "The team is ready"

Other collective nouns that take singular verbs: management, staff, government, committee, company, board.

Trap 4 — Preposition errors with time expressions

Prepositions in English are idiomatic — the same preposition you use in your native language will often be wrong in English.

Wrong: "I have been waiting since two hours" / "I will arrive at Monday"

Right: "I have been waiting for two hours" / "I will arrive on Monday"

Quick reference:

• at → specific times (at 3 PM, at noon)
• on → days and dates (on Monday, on June 5th)
• in → months, years, longer periods (in June, in 2024, in the morning)
• for → duration (for two hours, for three days)
• since → a point in time (since Tuesday, since last week)

Trap 5 — Run-on sentences joined with "and"

Many CELPIP candidates write very long sentences where several independent thoughts are chained together with "and." This affects both Grammar Accuracy and Coherence.

Wrong: "I was at the store and I noticed the product was damaged and I spoke to the manager and she said she would look into it and I am writing now to follow up."

Right: "While at the store, I noticed the product was damaged and spoke to the manager. She advised she would look into the matter. I am writing to follow up on that conversation."

Fix: If a sentence has more than two "and" connectors, split it. Each distinct action or idea belongs in its own sentence or clause.

A grammar checklist to use before you submit

After drafting, spend 90 seconds checking:

• Is my main tense consistent throughout?
• Does every specific noun have the correct article?
• Do collective nouns have singular verbs?
• Are time prepositions correct (at/on/in/for/since)?
• Are there any run-on sentences I should split?

Catching even two or three of these before submission can move a CLB 7 grammar score to a CLB 8.

Practice this

Submit a writing response and get grammar-specific feedback that identifies the exact patterns you need to fix.