Look at the following (correct) phrases:
- over the 10-year period
- the charts show three 10-year periods
Now compare those phrases with two more:
- over the period of 10 years
- the charts show three periods of 10 years
Can you see the difference? Can you explain the grammar rule here, and can you think of any other examples?
Style guides usually recommend spelling out small numbers in formal English: should we do this in the exam, eg "over the period of ten years"; "over the ten-year period", or not?
Thanks
Posted by: jimbo | March 23, 2017 at 10:18
Jimbo,
It doesn't really matter - it certainly won't affect your score either way.
Posted by: Simon | March 23, 2017 at 14:38
hi simon
here in my town one center gives suggestion about ilets (how to do all modules) and they preffer overall in the last (only for task 1) they also told me that they got email from Cambridge in which they say if you want to get bands in task 1 you have to obey
introduction
body part 1
body part 2
overall
what you want to say about this sir ....i am confused
Posted by: Gaurav | March 23, 2017 at 18:42
over a 10 years period
Posted by: binh | March 23, 2017 at 23:28
When we're talking about time, a single "period" can be any length:
a thirty-second period .
a nine-week period
a seven-month period
a hyphen is not included if it's not an adjective
Posted by: hoangdiem | March 24, 2017 at 01:36
the rule here is that '10-year' is a adjective and 'period' is a noun.
another examples:
a 3-year-old baby girl
3 years old.
Posted by: Hồng Nhung | March 24, 2017 at 05:00
Dear Simon,
Just for a quick check, I'm about to have a exam very soon but still wondering about this.
In IELTS speaking interview, what if the way of one's speaking is too informal? And what if one says some 'bad language' carelessly?
Cheers
Posted by: Hans | March 24, 2017 at 06:01
Hans
The speaking test is informal, so don't worry about that. I'm not sure what you mean by 'bad language' but if you mean 'swear words' then that would not be appropriate, because natives don't use them when speaking to strangers.
Posted by: sjm | March 24, 2017 at 11:42
binh,
No. Don't write "over a 10 years period" - that's wrong.
As Hong says (above), "10-year" is acting as an adjective to describe the noun "period".
Posted by: Simon | March 24, 2017 at 16:20
Dear Simon
I have read your essays for Task 1 and some other tutorial IELTS writing books and I find a difference between them.
The IELTS writing books give me a structure of line graphs,pie charts,bar charts and tables that,
introduction
body part 1
body part 2
overall
And the former essays I have read often have a structure like,
introduction
'It is clear that...'with rough comparisons
body part 1 with figures
body part 2 with figures
Is it necessary to write an overall at last?
Could l write my essays with your structure?
THANK YOU!
Posted by: Base | March 26, 2017 at 13:22
Base,
I think the simple way of asking your question is this: where is the best place to put the overview / summary paragraph?
The answer is that you can EITHER put it after the introduction OR you can put it at the end. Both ways are equally good, so don't worry too much about this!
Posted by: Simon | March 27, 2017 at 15:40
Here's another example.
Hundreds of millions
30 million people
I love to partake in sharing resources.
Have a lovely day, all.
Posted by: K.C | April 06, 2017 at 04:56
hi sir simon. I just want to clarify if what is the difference between over "A" 10-year period OR over "THE" 10-year period. or are they the same? Please help me I'm confuse. Thank you.
Posted by: Lexa | June 12, 2017 at 06:25
Dear Simon
Please give explanations on above sentences.
It makes me a little bit confused.
please.....
Posted by: Sarker | June 21, 2017 at 16:09