English Language and Communication Skills
This domain tests grammar, usage, comprehension, precis, and awareness of communication barriers.
Grammar checks
- Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not with a parenthetical phrase.
- Keep tense consistent and structures parallel.
- Use articles, prepositions, and countable/uncountable nouns correctly.
Communication process
- Sender, encoding, message, channel, receiver, decoding, feedback; noise or barriers can distort any stage.
- Barriers may be semantic, psychological, organisational, physical, or cultural.
Worked example
The manager, along with his assistants, are attending the meeting. Correction: is attending. Reasoning: the subject is manager (singular); along with his assistants is a parenthetical phrase and does not change the number. If the sentence used and, the plural verb would be correct.
Traps
- One of the boys are should be one of the boys is.
- Misplaced modifier: Walking to the office, the rain started, where the rain was not walking.
- Indianisms such as do the needful in formal writing.
- Confusing its/it's and your/you're.
Key points are listed in the key_points field.