The Article Problem: Why Chinese Speakers Lose Marks in IELTS Writing

Reading time: 15 minutes

Chinese speakers are among the most dedicated IELTS test-takers in the world. Yet many find themselves stuck at Band 5.5-6 in Writing, unable to reach their target despite strong grammar knowledge and extensive vocabulary.

The reason isn't a lack of effort or intelligence. It's L1 interference—patterns from Mandarin that transfer into English writing and create systematic errors.

The good news? Once you understand these patterns, you can fix them. This guide identifies the most common issues Chinese speakers face and provides practical strategies to overcome them.

Why L1 Interference Matters

Research consistently shows that errors caused by first language interference are among the most persistent and difficult to correct. Unlike random mistakes, these errors feel "natural" to the writer because they follow the logic of their native language.

For Chinese speakers, certain English features simply don't exist in Mandarin:

• Articles (a, an, the)
• Plural markers (-s endings)
• Subject-verb agreement
• Some verb tenses

This doesn't mean Chinese speakers can't learn these features—millions have. But it does mean targeted practice on these specific areas is more efficient than general English study.

Problem 1: Articles (A, An, The)

This is the single biggest issue for Chinese speakers in IELTS Writing. Mandarin doesn't have articles, so the concept feels foreign and arbitrary.

Common Mistakes

Omitting articles entirely:

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

Omitting articles with countable singular nouns:

• "Car produces pollution."
• "A car produces pollution." OR "Cars produce pollution."

Using 'the' incorrectly with general concepts:

• "The happiness is important for mental health."
• "Happiness is important for mental health."

Omitting 'the' with specific references:

• "Most important factor is education."
• "The most important factor is education."

Article Rules That Matter for IELTS

Use 'the' when:

• Referring to something specific: "the government of China"
• Referring to something unique: "the internet", "the environment"
• Using superlatives: "the best solution", "the most important"
• The noun has already been mentioned: "A study was conducted. The study found..."

Use 'a/an' when:

• Introducing something for the first time: "A recent study showed..."
• Referring to any member of a group: "A child needs education."
• With singular countable nouns in general statements: "A smartphone can be both helpful and harmful."

Use no article when:

• Making general statements with plural nouns: "Children need education."
• Making general statements with uncountable nouns: "Education is important."
• With abstract concepts: "Happiness is valuable." "Technology has changed society."

Practice Exercise

Correct the article errors in these sentences:

1. "Technology has changed the society."
2. "Government should take action."
3. "Car ownership is increasing in many countries."
4. "Most significant advantage is cost reduction."
5. "Education is right of every child."

Answers:

1. "Technology has changed society." (Remove 'the' - general concept)
2. "The government should take action." OR "Governments should take action."
3. Correct as written (uncountable/general concept)
4. "The most significant advantage is cost reduction."
5. "Education is a right of every child." OR "Education is the right of every child."

Problem 2: Plural Forms

Mandarin doesn't mark plurals grammatically—context indicates quantity. This creates two common errors:

Missing Plural Markers

• "Many student struggle with IELTS."

• "Many students struggle with IELTS."

• "There are several reason for this."

• "There are several reasons for this."

Quick Rule

After these words, the noun almost always needs -s:

• many, several, various, few, numerous
• numbers (two, three, hundreds of)
• some, all, most (when countable)

Subject-Verb Agreement with Plurals

• "The advantages of technology is obvious."
• "The advantages of technology are obvious."

The subject "advantages" is plural, so the verb must be "are" not "is."

Irregular Plurals to Remember

These appear frequently in IELTS essays, so learn them well.

Problem 3: Subject-Verb Agreement

Beyond plurals, Chinese speakers often struggle with subject-verb agreement because Mandarin verbs don't change form based on the subject.

Common Errors

Third person singular:

• "Technology have many benefits."

• "Technology has many benefits."

• "The government need to act."

• "The government needs to act."

After "everyone/everyone/nobody":

• "Everyone need education."
• "Everyone needs education."

These words (everyone, everybody, someone, nobody, each) are grammatically singular even though they refer to multiple people.

Complex subjects:

• "The impact of these policies are significant."
• "The impact of these policies is significant."

The subject is "impact" (singular), not "policies" (plural).

Quick Check Strategy

Before submitting, search for these high-risk patterns:

• "have/has" after singular subjects
• "-s" endings on verbs after he/she/it/government/technology

Problem 4: Tense Consistency

Chinese verbs don't conjugate for tense—time is indicated through context words. This leads to tense inconsistency in English writing.

Common Errors

Mixing tenses within a paragraph:

• "The study was conducted in 2020. It shows that students prefer online learning."
• "The study was conducted in 2020. It showed that students preferred online learning."

Using present tense for completed actions:

• "In the past, people travel by horse."
• "In the past, people travelled by horse."

IELTS Tense Guidelines

Use present simple for:

• General truths: "Technology plays an important role..."
• Current situations: "Many governments face this challenge..."
• Stating your opinion: "I believe that..."

Use present perfect for:

• Changes over time: "Technology has transformed education..."
• Results that are still relevant: "Studies have shown that..."

Use past simple for:

• Completed events: "A study conducted in 2019 found..."
• Historical examples: "In the 20th century, most people worked in agriculture."

Problem 5: Preposition Errors

Prepositions in English often don't correspond directly to their Mandarin equivalents, leading to errors.

Common Mistakes

"Depend on" not "depend of":

• "Success depends of hard work."
• "Success depends on hard work."

"Interested in" not "interested on/about":

• "Students are interested on technology."
• "Students are interested in technology."

"Consist of" not "consist by":

• "The exam consists by four sections."
• "The exam consists of four sections."

"Result in/from":

• "A results in B" = A causes B

• "A results from B" = B causes A

• "Pollution results of industrial activity."

• "Pollution results from industrial activity."

High-Frequency IELTS Prepositions

Memorise these collocations:

• invest in education
• lead to problems
• result in improvements
• depend on various factors
• contribute to development
• focus on solutions
• impact on society
• influence on children

Problem 6: Word Order

Mandarin and English have different word order rules, particularly for:

Adverb Placement

• "People increasingly more use technology."
• "People increasingly use technology." OR "More and more people use technology."

Time Expressions

• "In recent years pollution has increased rapidly in cities."
• "Pollution in cities has increased rapidly in recent years." OR "In recent years, pollution in cities has increased rapidly."

Relative Clause Position

• "The living in cities people face challenges."
• "People living in cities face challenges." OR "People who live in cities face challenges."

A Systematic Approach to Fixing These Errors

Step 1: Identify Your Personal Patterns

Not every Chinese speaker makes every error. Write a practice essay and analyse which specific errors you make most frequently.

Step 2: Target the High-Impact Errors First

For IELTS Writing, focus on:

1. Articles (highest frequency, affects fluency)
2. Subject-verb agreement (affects grammatical accuracy)
3. Plurals (easy to fix, immediate improvement)

Step 3: Create an Error Log

Keep a notebook of your personal errors:

Step 4: Build Proofreading Habits

Before submitting, specifically check:

• Every "the" - is it necessary?
• Every subject - does the verb agree?
• Every plural word - did you add "-s"?

How Long Does Correction Take?

These patterns are deeply ingrained, so expect gradual improvement rather than immediate perfection.

Timeline for most students:

• 2-4 weeks: Awareness (you notice errors after making them)
• 4-8 weeks: Catch-before-writing (you notice before finishing the sentence)
• 2-3 months: Automatic (correct forms feel natural)

Consistent practice with feedback accelerates this process significantly.

Beyond Grammar: Why This Matters for Your Score

Frequent article and agreement errors affect more than just your Grammatical Range and Accuracy score:

Coherence: Missing articles make sentences harder to follow
Lexical Resource: Incorrect collocations (wrong prepositions) lower your vocabulary score
Task Response: If errors distract from your ideas, your arguments seem weaker

Fixing these systematic errors can boost your overall Writing score by 0.5-1.0 bands.

Key Takeaways:

1. Articles are the #1 challenge for Chinese speakers—target them first
2. Subject-verb agreement requires checking every verb against its subject
3. Learn common preposition collocations as fixed phrases
4. Create a personal error log to track your patterns
5. Build proofreading habits that specifically check for your weak areas
6. Expect gradual improvement with consistent practice

Your Mandarin background isn't a disadvantage—it's simply a different starting point. With targeted work on these specific areas, Band 7+ is absolutely achievable.

Want to identify your specific language transfer errors? We're currently in closed beta—join the waitlist to get early access to feedback tailored to Chinese speakers.