English Language
What is tested
Grammar (tense, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, active-passive, direct-indirect speech), vocabulary (synonym, antonym, idiom, one-word substitution, spelling), error spotting, sentence improvement, cloze test and a short comprehension passage.
Rules that decide most questions
- Subject-verb agreement: the verb follows the real subject, not the nearest noun. "One of my friends is a doctor."
- "Since" takes a point of time; "for" takes a duration.
- Comparatives take "than"; "prefer" takes "to"; senior, junior, superior and inferior take "to".
- Passive voice: object becomes subject, then be + past participle (+ by agent).
- Reported speech: present shifts to past, and pronouns shift according to the reporter.
Worked example
Choose the correct form: Neither of the two candidates (was/were) present. "Neither" is singular, so the verb is "was". The plural noun "candidates" sits right beside the verb and is the standard distractor. The same rule covers "either", "each", "everyone", "anyone" and "nobody".
Traps
- "One of the" + plural noun + singular verb - the plural noun tempts a plural verb.
- Double comparatives ("more better") and double negatives.
- Idioms taken literally: "to burn the midnight oil" means to study late, not to burn oil.
- Confusing affect/effect, principal/principle, advice/advise, lie/lay.
- In comprehension, an option that is generally true but not stated in the passage.