English Language: Functional Grammar and Comprehension
The English Language section tests functional grammar and comprehension, not literature: error spotting, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks, articles and prepositions, subject-verb agreement, tenses, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, one-word substitutions, sentence rearrangement, active-passive, direct-indirect speech and a short reading passage.
Rules that decide most questions
- Subject-verb agreement follows the head noun: 'One of the boys is...' and 'The number of students is...' take singular verbs, while 'A number of students are...' takes plural.
- Articles: 'a' before consonant sounds (a university, a one-rupee coin), 'an' before vowel sounds (an hour, an MLA).
- Prepositions of time: at a clock time, on a day or date, in a month, year or long period.
- 'Since' pairs with a point of time and present perfect; 'for' pairs with duration.
- Conditionals: 'If I were you' (subjunctive); 'If he had studied, he would have passed'.
- Idioms are learnt as blocks: 'to bury the hatchet' means to make peace; 'a bolt from the blue' means a total surprise.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: 'One of the questions ___ difficult.' Reasoning: the subject is 'one', not 'questions'; 'of the questions' is only a prepositional modifier. A singular subject takes 'is'. Answer: is.
Traps that cost marks
- Proximity error, matching the verb to the nearest noun instead of the subject.
- Picking a synonym correct in the dictionary but wrong for the sentence's tone.
- In rearrangement items, choosing a first sentence merely because it repeats a keyword.
- Direct-indirect: forgetting to shift tense and pronouns when the reporting verb is past.
- Comprehension options that are true in real life but not stated in the passage.