In IELTS Writing, a word earns its place through precision, not rarity. The examiner looks at whether you’ve chosen the right linking word and whether each word fits its sentence. An impressive linking word in the wrong place gets in the reader’s way, while a simple, precise one helps. There are three groups of words you can’t do without: linking words between ideas, words for describing changes in Task 1 and words for comparisons. Every expression below has its own page in the free LetsWords exercises, with the meaning, a common learner mistake and an exercise with an answer check. And the LetsWords trainer teaches you to use these words without mistakes in your own writing.
How words and linking words are assessed
In the official description of IELTS Writing, linking words come under Coherence and Cohesion: you need a range of cohesive devices, used appropriately. Lexical Resource assesses the range of your vocabulary and how accurately and appropriately you use it. Neither criterion asks how many difficult words you use. Both ask whether each word does its job where you’ve put it.
A common source of mistakes is carrying a structure over from your first language. On a word list, these mistakes stay hidden: everything looks familiar. They only show up when you write yourself.
Linking words: contrast, cause, addition, example, conclusion
A common mistake is to follow the pattern of your first language: joining two clauses with just a comma and however; pairing although with but; putting due to in front of a whole clause.
- however — but, despite this
- although — in spite of the fact that
- as a result — because of this, so
- due to — because of, caused by
- in addition — also, furthermore
- for example — for instance; introduces a specific case
- such as — for example, like
- in conclusion — to conclude, summing up
You’ll find the rest, grouped by function, in the Linking words section: 74 in all.
Changes in Task 1: rises, falls and shares
A common mistake when describing graphs in Academic Task 1 is the wrong preposition or the wrong verb: went up on 15% instead of went up by 15%, prices raised instead of prices rose.
- go up — increase, move higher
- go down — become lower, move down
- rise vs raise — go up by itself vs lift something
- dramatic — sudden and large
- account for — make up a part of
- bring down — reduce (prices, costs)
- make up — form part of a whole
To see how these words work in a full answer, read our worked example of a line graph.
Comparisons
In Academic Task 1, the task explicitly asks you to make comparisons, and in Task 2 you often have to weigh up opinions and consequences. A common mistake is to break the structure: putting a whole clause after unlike (Unlike my sister loves big cities…) or leaving a whereas clause without a main clause: Whereas I prefer quiet towns. You can start a sentence with whereas, but then it needs a main clause after it: Whereas tea sales fell, coffee sales rose.
- whereas — while, in contrast
- while — whereas; also during the time that
- unlike — different from
- in contrast — by comparison, on the other hand
- similarly — in the same way, likewise
- different from — not the same as
- similar to — like something in some way
LetsWords feedback example: on the contrary or in contrast
You’ve added on the contrary to your own collection, and now you’re writing a sentence with it to describe a graph:
Between 2015 and 2025, the number of homes with a landline fell by half; on the contrary, the number of homes with fast broadband doubled.
What the feedback shows. Your native language may have one word that covers both “the opposite is true” and “by comparison”. In English, on the contrary means only “the opposite is true”: it contradicts what was said before it. Nothing is being contradicted here: you’re comparing two trends, and both are true. The reader expects the second half to cancel out the first, and loses the thread. To compare two trends, you need in contrast or whereas:
Between 2015 and 2025, the number of homes with a landline fell by half; in contrast, the number of homes with fast broadband doubled.
Between 2015 and 2025, the number of homes with a landline fell by half, whereas the number of homes with fast broadband doubled.
In contrast opens the second part after a full stop or a semicolon. Whereas joins the two parts into one sentence, with a comma before it.
Use it in a new situation. On the contrary comes after a negative statement, when the opposite is true:
The decline in landline use did not slow down after 2020; on the contrary, it accelerated.
On a word list, both linking words can end up with the same translation, so you don’t see the difference. It only became clear when you used the linking word yourself and got an explanation. Lock in the pair with the exercises for on the contrary and in contrast.
How to learn to use these words without mistakes
The free LetsWords exercises explain the meaning of each word and the mistake learners typically make with it. But for a word to appear in your exam answer, you have to recall it yourself and use it.
In the LetsWords vocabulary trainer, you add the linking words and other vocabulary you need to your collection. In review, you see a hint in your native language that means something like “by comparison”, recall in contrast yourself and write a sentence with it. LetsWords points out usage and grammar mistakes, suggests a correction and explains it with your goal in mind: an exam or general English. Spaced repetition brings the word back in later sessions until it becomes second nature. Hulstijn and Laufer compared tasks with new words: learners remembered the words best after writing a composition with them and worst after reading. A sentence with a linking word in the trainer is the same kind of task: you choose the meaning and the structure.
Then test the words you’ve learned in a full text. In the IELTS Writing section, you pick a Task 1 or Task 2 question from the bank, write your answer and get feedback on all four criteria, tied to your sentences. You revise the answer yourself: the feedback shows where the problem is and what to do next. The task guide helps you understand what the task requires before you start writing. If a whole essay still feels like too much, there’s criterion practice on a short passage, for example in Coherence and Cohesion or Lexical Resource.
Start preparing for IELTS Writing in LetsWords: learn the linking words and vocabulary you need, use them without mistakes and apply them in your Task 1 and Task 2 answers.