Conventions of Language: Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation
What the conventions test covers
The conventions of language test checks spelling, grammar and punctuation through short passages and multiple-choice items. You need to spot errors, choose the correct word form and apply punctuation rules accurately.
Concepts to master
- Spelling: common patterns such as -tion, -sion, -able, -ible, and doubling rules before suffixes (stopped, running). Learn frequently confused pairs: their/there/they're, your/you're, its/it's, practice/practise.
- Subject-verb agreement: singular subjects take singular verbs. Watch for phrases between the subject and verb: The box of chocolates is on the table.
- Tense consistency: keep the tense consistent unless the meaning requires a shift.
- Pronoun agreement: Each student must bring his or her book, not their, in formal writing.
- Punctuation: full stops, capital letters, commas in lists and after introductory phrases, apostrophes for possession and contraction, quotation marks for direct speech, and question and exclamation marks.
Traps to watch for
- Missing apostrophes in plurals versus possessives: the dogs' bowls versus the dog's bowl.
- Comma splices, where two complete sentences are joined by a comma only.
- Using its when it's (it is) is needed.
- Capitalising common nouns, or failing to capitalise proper nouns and sentence beginnings.
- Choosing a word that sounds right but is spelled incorrectly.
Rule of thumb
Read each sentence aloud in your head. If two complete ideas are joined only by a comma, replace the comma with a full stop or add a conjunction such as because or and.
Worked example
Incorrect: The teams coach shouted, "run faster!" Correct: The team's coach shouted, "Run faster!" The apostrophe shows possession, and direct speech begins with a capital letter.