English Language
English Language assesses reading comprehension and standard written usage. For BoB Office Assistant, expect a reading passage, cloze test, error detection or sentence improvement, para jumbles, fillers, and vocabulary questions such as synonyms and antonyms. The section rewards grammatical precision more than literary interpretation.
Core rules
- Subject-verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb; “each, either, neither, everyone, somebody” are singular. “One of the + plural noun” takes a singular verb.
- Tense consistency: do not shift tense without a time marker; past perfect needs an earlier past action.
- Prepositions: learn verb-preposition pairs (insist on, comply with, consist of, prefer to).
- Parallelism: items joined by and/or/but must share the same grammatical form.
- RC: distinguish main idea from supporting detail; answer only from the passage, not from outside knowledge.
Worked example
“Each of the boys have submitted their assignment.” Find the error. The subject is “Each,” which is singular, so the verb should be “has,” not “have.” The possessive should agree with the singular subject: “his assignment.” Correct sentence: “Each of the boys has submitted his assignment.” A plural noun immediately before the verb (“boys”) is the distractor.
Traps
Matching the verb to the nearest noun rather than the subject; treating “data,” “media,” or collective nouns incorrectly; choosing a synonym that fits the dictionary but not the passage context; ignoring parallel structure in lists; over-reading RC answers that are true in general but absent from the text.