Dari and Pashto Language and Literature
Core concepts
Both language papers test grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and literary knowledge. In grammar, know parts of speech, sentence structure, subject–verb agreement, verb tenses and aspects, pronouns, prepositions, and the rules for plural formation and agreement. In comprehension, practise finding the main idea, distinguishing fact from opinion, and inferring meaning from context. In literature, know major classical and modern figures, genres (poetry, prose, epic, ghazal, folk tale), and basic rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor.
Traps to watch
- Agreement errors: the verb must match the subject in person and number; long phrases between them are distractors.
- Plural formation: Dari and Pashto use different plural patterns; do not apply one language's rule to the other.
- False friends in vocabulary: similar-sounding words can carry different meanings - read the whole sentence.
- Comprehension inference: the right answer is supported by the passage, not by your general knowledge; "true in real life" is not the same as "stated or implied here".
- Literary attribution: match an author to the correct genre and era; do not guess from the sound of the name.
Rule of thumb: read the question first
Skim the question, then read the passage or sentence once for meaning and once for detail. For grammar items, isolate the subject and the verb and check agreement before anything else.
Worked example
In a sentence where a long descriptive phrase separates the subject from the verb, cross out the phrase mentally: "The students, together with their teacher, ___ arriving." The subject is students (plural), so the verb must be plural - are. The intervening phrase never changes agreement.