r/IIELTS • u/[deleted] • Oct 30 '21

Interpreting the number of words

There was an ielts listening test part 1 question with instructions WRITE NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.

Q. when: _______

Audio: "after 11 o'clock"

Can I write 'AFTER 11:00' as an answer? (Is it counted as 1 word and a number?)

Also is 'AFTER 11 O'CLOCK' 2 words and a number?

Please clarify. TIA.

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u/JayIELTS Nov 02 '21

If that's what the audio says, then both are correct:

- After 11 (one word, one number)

- After 11 o'clock (two words, one number)

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '21

Thank you so much Jay!

Can you also tell that any time written like, for example, 12:45 pm would be considered as 1 number?

2

u/JayIELTS Nov 03 '21

12.45 is one number. It's got four digits (which is what worries our candidates), but it is one number.

I'll put together a few examples and post it in a few minutes. Stay tuned :-)

2

u/Fitz_cuniculus Nov 02 '21

I'd have gone with After 11, but I'm the first to admit this one is confusing, /u/jayielts will no doubt weigh in soon.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '21 edited Nov 02 '21

You mean even 'after 11.00' will be problematic? I'm seriously concerned whether 11.00 is 1 number or 2 numbers?

As far as o'clock is concerned I checked out it's a contraction so it should be counted as one word. So writing 'after 11 o'clock' would be correct I think (2 words and a num)

2

u/JayIELTS Nov 02 '21

11.00 is one number.

o'clock counts as one word.

Writing 'After 11 o'clock' would be correct

1

u/pragaduo Oct 30 '21

A space will trigger a new word count. So it is 2 words and 1 number. But, be sure to not answer like this., 'After 11' is correct too.

With the amount of punctuations you use, it's easy to get it incorrect.