Grammar and Vocabulary
What the domain tests
The grammar and vocabulary items test verb forms and tense, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, phrasal verbs, reported speech, voice, idioms, synonyms and antonyms, and word formation, often through fill-in-the-blank and cloze items.
Core rules and concepts
- Tense is decided by the time marker, not by the surrounding verbs: since, for, by the time, already, ago, now.
- Agreement follows the nearest subject with neither…nor and either…or; one of the takes a plural noun but a singular verb; the number of is singular while a number of is plural.
- Articles: a before consonant sounds, an before vowel sounds, the for something already specified or unique.
- Prepositions attach to fixed patterns: deprived of, averse to, capable of, insist on, comply with.
- Phrasal verbs change meaning with the particle: give up, give in, give away, give off are four different verbs.
- Vocabulary items reward the exact meaning in the given sentence, so test each option by substitution.
Worked example
Sentence: 'By the time the train arrived, we ____ (wait) for two hours.' Reasoning: 'by the time' plus a past event puts the waiting before that event; 'for two hours' stresses duration up to that point. Past perfect continuous is therefore required: 'had been waiting'. Simple past ('waited') would make the two hours begin after the train arrived, which reverses the meaning.
Second example: 'Neither the teacher nor the students ____ (be) present.' The verb agrees with the nearer subject, 'students', so 'were'.
Traps that cost marks
- Since with a point in time, for with a duration - mixing them.
- Using the present perfect with a finished past time marker such as yesterday.
- Choosing a phrasal verb by the meaning of the base verb alone.
- Picking a synonym that fits the dictionary but not the sentence's register.