English Language: Grammar, Vocabulary and Comprehension
What the English paper tests
The English section tests functional grammar and usage: tense and aspect, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, active and passive voice, direct and indirect speech, degrees of comparison, plus vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, idioms, one-word substitution, spelling) and a short comprehension passage with sentence-correction items.
Rules to apply mechanically
- Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not with an intervening phrase. One of the boys was present. Each of the students has submitted. The number of applicants is rising, but a number of applicants are waiting.
- Tense with time markers: since + point of time and for + duration both take the perfect form - He has been working here since 2019.
- Articles: a/an is chosen by sound, not spelling - a university, an hour, a European. The definite article goes with superlatives, unique objects and previously specified nouns.
- Fixed pairs: hardly/scarcely … when; no sooner … than; not only … but also; neither … nor.
Worked example
Choose was or were: One of the boys who ___ standing at the gate ___ my cousin. Step 1: locate the relative clause who standing at the gate; its antecedent is boys, plural, so the first blank takes were. Step 2: the main clause subject is one, singular, so the second blank takes was. Answer: were … was. The test is deliberately built so that the nearer noun is not the deciding noun in the main clause.
Traps that cost marks
- Collective nouns (team, jury, committee) take a singular verb when acting as one unit, plural when members act individually.
- Double comparatives such as more better, and double negatives such as hardly no one.
- Idiom questions where the literal meaning is offered as a distractor; idioms are tested by settled usage, not logic.
- Comprehension answers must be traceable to the passage; outside knowledge is usually the wrong option.