English Language
What is tested
Grammar and usage at a practical level: tenses, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, active and passive voice, direct and indirect speech, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, one-word substitutions, error spotting, cloze passages and a short comprehension passage.
Core rules to apply
- Subject-verb agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, not with the nearest noun. Words like each, either, neither, everyone, nobody are singular.
- Articles: a/an depends on the sound, not the letter - an hour, a university.
- Tenses: with since and for, present perfect or present perfect continuous is used; with ago, simple past.
- Passive voice: object becomes subject, verb becomes be + past participle, and the agent is introduced by by.
- In comprehension, answer from the passage only - outside knowledge is a distractor.
Worked example. Neither of the girls ___ present at the Anganwadi. Options: were / was / are / have been. Reasoning: the subject is neither, which is singular, so the verb must be singular. Of the girls is a prepositional phrase and does not change the number. Answer: was.
Traps that cost marks
- One of the + plural noun + singular verb: "One of the schemes is delayed."
- Collective nouns such as committee take a singular verb when acting as one body.
- Confusing affect (verb) with effect (noun), and principal with principle.
- Idiom questions punish literal reading: to bite the bullet means to endure pain, not to chew metal.