Stuck at 6 in IELTS Writing Task 2? Avoid “over-generalized” statements!

Let’s look at a sentence from a  student’s IELTS Writing Task 2  essay:

“People who smoke suffer from many diseases.”

This candidate has written a sentence which is grammatically correct; however, they have “over-generalized” an idea. Certainly, not all people who smoke suffer from many diseases! This over-generalized statement could lead to a lowered band score, especially if it occurs frequently.

So, how do you avoid it? Using the two powerful phrases below you could “soften your language”:

“to be likely to +  verb”

“to tend to + verb ”

These phrases are accurately used in the following sentences:

“People who smoke are likely to suffer from many diseases.”

“People who smoke tend to suffer from many diseases.”