What's new on IELTS with Fiona

What goes in the gap here?

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ANSWER: rule

'This rule' refers BACK to the previous sentence about the width and height of the houses.

'This rule' summarises the whole sentence in a single noun.

This referencing system (using nouns to summarise sentences) has various names like:

• 'summary nouns' (single nouns that summarise a whole sentence)
• 'container nouns' (single nouns that contain the meaning of the whole sentence)
• 'carrier nouns' (single nouns that 'carry' the meaning of the whole sentence)
• 'shell' nouns (I guess a shell 'encoloses' or 'surrounds' the meaning)

Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea.

These nouns are really useful for avoiding repetition in your writing and speaking - check out the full list in the lesson below (go to point 3 and the slides).