English: Grammar, Vocabulary and Comprehension
English questions on this exam test standard written English rather than literary analysis. The highest-yield areas are subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, articles and prepositions, pronoun reference, and sentence correction. Learn the rules as rules: a singular subject takes a singular verb even when a prepositional phrase intervenes ("The box of pens is heavy"); collective nouns take a singular verb when acting as a unit; neither/either/each/every take singular verbs. Vocabulary questions usually ask for a synonym, antonym, or one-word substitution, so build word families rather than isolated words. For comprehension, read the questions first, then the passage, and answer only from what the passage states - not from general knowledge.
Traps to expect
- Distractor agreement: "One of the boys were present" - the head noun is "one".
- Tricky prepositions: differ from, comply with, composed of, superior to, married to.
- Double negatives and redundancy ("return back", "discuss about").
- Near-synonyms where only one fits the sentence's register.
Rule of thumb
For any correction item, first identify the subject and the main verb, then check agreement and tense before looking at anything else. Most errors sit in that pair. If two options look correct, prefer the one that changes the least.
Worked example: "Each of the students ___ a book." The head word is Each (singular), so the verb is has, not have.