English Language
The English Language section tests comprehension and control of standard written English rather than literary knowledge. Expect reading comprehension (often with a banking or economy passage), cloze tests, phrase replacement, error spotting, sentence improvement, para jumbles, fillers and match-the-column. The scoring question is usually the same: does the sentence remain grammatically complete and logically consistent?
Rules that repeat
- Subject-verb agreement: 'one of the + plural noun' takes a singular verb; 'neither of' and 'either of' are singular; 'each' and 'every' are singular.
- Comparatives: use 'than' after a comparative, 'to' after superior, inferior, senior and junior. Do not double the comparative.
- Conditionals: 'no sooner ... than', 'hardly ... when', 'scarcely ... when'. Never 'no sooner ... when'.
- Cloze and fillers: the preposition and the connector decide the answer more often than meaning alone ('despite' + noun, 'although' + clause).
- Para jumbles: the opening sentence carries a full noun, never a bare pronoun; pronouns, synonyms and contrast markers ('however', 'therefore') link neighbours.
Worked example. 'Neither of the two proposals were accepted by the board.' The subject 'neither of the two proposals' is singular, so the verb must be 'was'. Corrected: 'Neither of the two proposals was accepted by the board.'
Traps that cost marks
Choosing an option because it sounds formal; ignoring the tense sequence in reported speech; marking a sentence wrong for style when it is grammatically sound; and in comprehension, selecting an inference that the passage merely allows rather than states. Read the question stem before the options.