English Language: Grammar, Usage and Comprehension
English Language tests standard written English: grammar and usage, vocabulary, sentence correction, fillers, cloze, idioms, and a reading comprehension passage. The prose is usually formal - business, editorial or report style.
Rules
- Subject-verb agreement: one of the + plural noun takes a singular verb; neither...nor agrees with the nearer subject; collective nouns take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit.
- Fixed prepositions: comprise takes no of; consist of; discuss takes no about; married to; prefer to.
- Conditionals: if + past perfect, would have + past participle, for unreal past situations.
- Reading comprehension: the answer must be directly supported by the passage; eliminate options with extreme words such as always, never and only.
Worked example
Sentence: Neither of the two proposals were accepted by the board.
- Subject: neither, which is singular.
- of the two proposals is a prepositional phrase and does not change the number of the subject.
- Correction: was accepted. The same logic applies to each, either, everyone and one of, so a single rule covers several error-spotting questions.
Traps
- Affect (verb) versus effect (noun); principal (main) versus principle (rule).
- Using since with a point of time and for with a duration.
- Choosing a synonym that fits the dictionary but not the register of the sentence.
- Answering comprehension questions from general knowledge rather than from the passage.