Grammar and Vocabulary
The Grammar and Vocabulary section of the Basque PAU English exam tests discrete language knowledge through gap-fill, sentence transformation (rephrasing), word formation, synonyms/antonyms, and sometimes error correction. It rewards accuracy and control of structures that appear in the reading text and writing task.
Core rules
- Tenses: know the difference between present perfect (experience, unfinished time) and past simple (finished time); past perfect for the earlier past; future forms (will, going to, present continuous).
- Conditionals: zero (if + present, present), first (if + present, will), second (if + past, would), third (if + past perfect, would have + past participle). Never use 'would' in the if-clause.
- Passive: form with be + past participle; include the agent with 'by' only if relevant.
- Reported speech: backshift tenses (present -> past, past -> past perfect); change pronouns, time and place words.
- Relative clauses: defining (no commas, use 'that' or 'who/which') vs non-defining (commas, never 'that').
- Modals: must/have to, should/ought to, can/could, may/might; past modals (must have done, could have done).
- Word formation: decide the part of speech needed (noun, adjective, adverb, verb), then apply prefixes/suffixes and spelling changes (e.g., happy -> happiness, decide -> decision).
- False friends: actual = real/current, not 'current'; assist = help, not 'attend'; library = biblioteca, bookshop = librería.
Worked example
Rephrase: 'I regret not studying harder for the exam.' Use 'wish'. Reasoning: 'Regret' about the past expresses a wish that the past were different. The structure is 'wish + past perfect'. The original is negative ('not studying'), so after 'wish' we use the affirmative past perfect: 'I wish I had studied harder for the exam.' Do not write 'I wish I would have studied' (incorrect in standard English) or 'I wish I studied' (present regret, not past).
Traps that cost marks
- Subject-verb agreement in complex sentences (e.g., 'The number of students is' vs 'A number of students are').
- Double negatives ('I don't know nothing').
- Using Spanish/Basque calques: 'I have 18 years' -> 'I am 18 years old'; 'It depends of' -> 'It depends on'.
- Forgetting the second 'have' in third conditional ('If I would have known').
- Adding 'to' after modals ('I must to go').
- Misspelling suffixes: 'beautifull', 'arguement'.