English Language Proficiency: Grammar, Usage and Comprehension
What the paper tests
English Language Proficiency tests the English you need for statements, reports and correspondence. It covers grammar and usage, sentence completion, error identification, paragraph improvement and reading comprehension. Marks are lost less often through hard vocabulary than through agreement, tense, reference and register errors.
Core rules and concepts
- Subject–verb agreement: the verb agrees with the grammatical subject, not with a nearby noun. In 「The officer, together with two colleagues, was ...」 the subject is officer.
- Tense and aspect: keep a consistent time frame; use past perfect only when a past event is clearly earlier than another past event.
- Modifiers: a participial phrase at the start of a sentence must describe the subject. 「Having reviewed the file, the decision was made」 is wrong because the decision did not review the file.
- Parallelism: items joined by and, or, not only ... but also must have the same grammatical form.
- Reference: pronouns must have one clear antecedent; avoid a vague this or which.
- Register: formal reports use precise verbs, fewer contractions and no slang; distinguish inference from fact.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: 「The officer, together with two colleagues, ___ (was/were) asked to provide a statement.」 Reasoning: the subject is the singular noun officer. The phrase together with two colleagues is parenthetical and does not change the number of the subject. The verb is therefore was. If the sentence used and - 「The officer and two colleagues were asked」 - the subject would be plural.
Traps
- Being misled by a plural noun next to the verb.
- Using a comma splice or run-on sentence in a formal paragraph.
- Confusing less/fewer, amount/number, comprise/consist of.
- Choosing an answer that is grammatical but changes the passage's meaning.
- Treating a plausible inference as if it were stated in the text.