Grammar and Vocabulary: Precision Over Guessing
Grammar and Vocabulary checks control of sentence structure, verb forms, agreement, word choice, and collocation. Questions reward precision and punish plausible-sounding guesses.
Concepts to master
- Subject–verb agreement, including with collective nouns and intervening phrases.
- Tense and aspect: simple vs. continuous vs. perfect, and time markers ("since," "by the time," "already").
- Conditionals and unreal past ("If I had known…").
- Pronoun reference and agreement.
- Prepositions and collocation: fixed partnerships ("depend on," "interested in," "make a decision").
- Word form: noun/adjective/adverb choice within a sentence slot.
Traps to expect
- Distraction by a nearby noun: "The list of items is long" - the verb agrees with "list."
- Time markers that force a tense: "since 2010" demands present perfect, not simple past.
- Near-synonyms with different collocations ("do" vs. "make"; "say" vs. "tell").
- Sound-alike forms (affect/effect, its/it's).
- Over-correction: choosing the formal-looking option that breaks the sentence.
Rule of thumb
Read the whole sentence before choosing, then strip it to its core: find the true subject and the main verb. For vocabulary, substitute each option into the sentence and ask which one a fluent speaker would actually say. Collocation beats dictionary meaning.
Worked example
"Each of the proposals ___ reviewed carefully." Options: were, was, have, are. The subject is "Each" (singular), and "of the proposals" is a prepositional phrase that does not govern the verb. The answer is was.