Arabic Speakers: The 6 Grammar Patterns Costing You Marks in IELTS Writing

If you're an Arabic speaker preparing for IELTS, you're fighting a battle on two fronts. First, you need to master IELTS essay structure and timing. Second, you need to overcome systematic grammar patterns that your native language creates in your English writing.

Research consistently shows that Arabic speakers make predictable errors in English writing—errors that stem directly from how Arabic grammar works. These aren't random mistakes. They're patterns that can be identified, understood, and fixed.

This guide examines the six most common grammar errors Arabic speakers make in IELTS Writing and provides specific strategies to eliminate them from your essays.

Why Arabic Speakers Face Unique IELTS Challenges

Arabic and English belong to completely different language families. Arabic is a Semitic language with its own grammatical logic that doesn't translate to English. When you learned English, your brain naturally tried to apply Arabic grammar rules to English sentences.

Linguists call this "negative transfer" or "L1 interference." It's not a sign of poor English—it's a natural part of language learning. However, in a scored test like IELTS, these transferred patterns cost you marks in Grammatical Range and Accuracy.

The good news: because these errors are systematic, they can be systematically corrected. Once you know what to look for, you can build new habits that prevent these errors before they happen.

Error 1: Missing or Incorrect Articles (The/A/An)

This is the single most common error for Arabic speakers in IELTS Writing, and it directly impacts your Grammatical Range and Accuracy score.

Why This Happens

Arabic has a definite article ("al-") but no indefinite article. In Arabic, you simply say the noun without any article when referring to something general. Your brain applies this rule to English, causing systematic article errors.

Common Patterns

Missing "the" with specific references:

• ❌ "Government should invest in education."
• ✓ "The government should invest in education."

Missing "a/an" with singular countable nouns:

• ❌ "He is engineer."
• ✓ "He is an engineer."

Adding "the" with general concepts:

• ❌ "The education is important for society."
• ✓ "Education is important for society."

How to Fix It

Before submitting your essay, specifically scan for:

1. Every singular countable noun—does it have an article?
2. First mentions of nouns—should it be "a/an" (general) or "the" (specific)?
3. General concepts—remove "the" before abstract nouns used generally

Practice sentence: "The unemployment is a serious problem that affects the young people."

Corrected: "Unemployment is a serious problem that affects young people."

Error 2: Omitting the Verb "To Be"

Arabic speakers frequently omit forms of "be" (is, am, are, was, were) in English sentences. This creates sentence fragments that significantly reduce your grammar score.

Why This Happens

In Arabic, nominal sentences (sentences describing states or conditions) don't require a verb. You can say the equivalent of "The weather cold" or "She doctor" without any linking verb. When you think in Arabic and write in English, this structure transfers.

Common Patterns

Missing "is/are" with adjectives:

• ❌ "The problem very serious."
• ✓ "The problem is very serious."

Missing "is/are" with professions:

• ❌ "My father teacher."
• ✓ "My father is a teacher."

Missing "are" in there constructions:

• ❌ "There many reasons for this."
• ✓ "There are many reasons for this."

How to Fix It

Every English sentence needs a verb. When describing:

• What something IS (adjective): use "is/are"
• What someone DOES (profession): use "is/are + a/an"
• What EXISTS: use "there is/are"

Check every sentence in your essay: where is the main verb?

Error 3: Incorrect Preposition Usage

Preposition errors are extremely common for Arabic speakers and directly affect both Grammar and Coherence scores.

Why This Happens

Arabic prepositions rarely correspond one-to-one with English prepositions. The Arabic preposition "في" (fi) can translate to "in," "on," "at," or other prepositions depending on context. When you translate mentally, you often choose the wrong English preposition.

Common Patterns

"In" instead of "on" or "at":

• ❌ "I was born in 1995" (correct, but...)
• ❌ "I depend in my parents"
• ✓ "I depend on my parents"

"From" instead of other prepositions:

• ❌ "I graduated from university in engineering"
• ✓ "I graduated from university with a degree in engineering"

Literal translations:

• ❌ "I am good in English"
• ✓ "I am good at English"

How to Fix It

Learn prepositions as part of complete phrases, not isolated words:

• "depend ON"
• "interested IN"
• "good AT"
• "responsible FOR"

Keep a list of verb + preposition combinations and review them before your test.

Error 4: Pronoun Reference Errors

Arabic speakers often include resumptive pronouns (extra pronouns) in relative clauses, creating grammatically incorrect English sentences.

Why This Happens

In Arabic relative clauses, you retain the pronoun reference even when the relative pronoun replaces it. For example, Arabic allows structures like "The man who I met him yesterday..."—the "him" feels necessary in Arabic grammar.

Common Patterns

Extra pronouns in relative clauses:

• ❌ "The student who I taught him passed the exam."
• ✓ "The student who I taught passed the exam."

Resumptive pronouns with relative clauses:

• ❌ "The car which I bought it is red."
• ✓ "The car which I bought is red."

How to Fix It

When you use "who," "which," or "that," the relative pronoun replaces the noun—you don't need another pronoun referring to the same thing.

Rule: If you have "who/which/that" + verb + pronoun referring to the same noun, delete the pronoun.

Error 5: Word Order Problems

Arabic sentence structure differs significantly from English, leading to awkward or incorrect word order in IELTS essays.

Why This Happens

Arabic allows more flexible word order than English. Arabic commonly uses Verb-Subject-Object order, while English requires Subject-Verb-Object. Additionally, Arabic adjectives come after nouns, not before.

Common Patterns

Adjective placement:

• ❌ "The problems environmental are increasing."
• ✓ "The environmental problems are increasing."

Inverted subject-verb:

• ❌ "Are increasing the prices every year."
• ✓ "The prices are increasing every year."

How to Fix It

English word order is strict: Subject → Verb → Object
Adjectives come BEFORE nouns: "important reasons" not "reasons important"

Check each sentence follows the SVO pattern unless you're asking a question.

Error 6: Overusing Conjunctions

Arabic speakers often connect ideas with excessive use of "and" (wa/و), creating run-on sentences that reduce coherence scores.

Why This Happens

In Arabic writing, coordinating ideas with "wa" is a common stylistic feature. Sentences can chain together multiple clauses with repeated "and." This sounds natural in Arabic but creates run-on sentences in English.

Common Patterns

Chain of "and":

• ❌ "I went to the market and I bought vegetables and I came home and I cooked dinner."
• ✓ "I went to the market and bought vegetables. Then I came home and cooked dinner."

Missing punctuation between ideas:

• ❌ "Technology is useful and it helps students learn and it saves time."
• ✓ "Technology is useful because it helps students learn. Additionally, it saves time."

How to Fix It

1. Limit "and" to connecting two related items
2. Use periods to separate distinct ideas
3. Use varied linking words: "Additionally," "Furthermore," "Moreover," "However"

Action Plan for Arabic Speakers

Week 1-2: Article Focus

• Read English news articles, highlighting every article (the/a/an)
• Practice writing sentences with countable and uncountable nouns
• Complete 10 article-focused exercises daily

Week 3-4: Verb and Structure Focus

• Check every sentence you write for a main verb
• Practice "there is/are" constructions
• Review subject-verb-object order

Week 5-6: Preposition and Pronoun Focus

• Learn 20 common verb + preposition combinations
• Practice relative clauses without resumptive pronouns
• Write essays and specifically check for these errors

How AI Feedback Helps Arabic Speakers

Generic IELTS feedback misses L1-specific patterns. When a teacher doesn't know you're an Arabic speaker, they might correct individual errors without identifying the underlying pattern.

AI-powered tools like BandWriteCoach can be trained to recognize Arabic L1 interference patterns. This means feedback that specifically identifies:

• Your article error patterns
• Missing verb-to-be instances
• Preposition combinations you struggle with
• Word order issues stemming from Arabic structure

This targeted feedback helps you build awareness of your specific patterns, not just correct individual mistakes.

Key Takeaways

1. Article errors are your biggest challenge—master the/a/an rules first
2. Every English sentence needs a verb—check for missing "is/are"
3. Learn prepositions as phrases—don't translate from Arabic
4. Relative clauses don't need resumptive pronouns—delete the extra "him/her/it"
5. Follow Subject-Verb-Object order strictly—adjectives before nouns
6. Vary your conjunctions—don't chain ideas with "and"

These six patterns likely account for the majority of grammar errors in your IELTS essays. By systematically addressing each one, you can significantly improve your Grammatical Range and Accuracy score and move closer to your target band.

Struggling with these L1 interference patterns? BandWriteCoach provides personalized feedback that identifies Arabic-specific errors in your IELTS essays and gives you targeted practice to eliminate them.