English Language
What this domain tests
The English section checks functional grammar and comprehension rather than literary theory. Expect error spotting, sentence completion, synonyms and antonyms, one-word substitutions, idioms, sentence rearrangement, comprehension and basic active/passive or direct/indirect conversion. Questions reward precise rule knowledge and careful reading.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. With “one of + plural noun”, the verb agrees with “one”: One of the boys is absent.
- Neither/either, nor/or: the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the teacher nor the students were present.
- Use “since” with a point of time and “for” with a duration: since 2010, for five years.
- Articles: “a” before consonant sounds, “an” before vowel sounds; “the” for specified or unique nouns.
- In passive voice, the object becomes subject and the verb becomes be + past participle: They completed the work → The work was completed by them.
- In comprehension, answer from the passage, not from general knowledge.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: “One of the students ___ selected for the quiz.” The subject is “one”, not “students”. “One” is singular, so the verb is “was”. Answer: was.
Traps
Do not be guided by the noun nearest the verb when “one of” is used. Do not use double comparatives (“more better”). Distinguish “few” (almost none), “a few” (some) and “the few” (all that remain). In idioms, do not translate literally; learn the whole phrase.