Grammar and Vocabulary in Context
Grammar and vocabulary appear both as isolated items and inside passages, so the same rules must work in both settings. The paper favours a small set of recurring items: agreement, tense, voice, reported speech, articles, prepositions and context-based word choice.
Grammar rules that recur
- Neither ... nor and either ... or take the verb of the nearer subject: "Neither the teacher nor the students were informed."
- "One of the + plural noun + who/that" takes a plural verb in the relative clause: "one of the boys who were absent".
- Collective nouns (team, jury, committee) take a singular verb when acting as a unit, plural when members act separately.
- Reported speech backshifts tense and shifts time words: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there.
- Passive voice keeps the original tense: "They are building a road" → "A road is being built."
- Articles: a/an by sound (an hour, a university); the for superlatives, unique objects and previously mentioned nouns.
Vocabulary in context
In cloze items, decide the part of speech the gap needs first, then use collocation and linking words (although, therefore, moreover) to choose between close options. Note fixed pairs: discuss (never "discuss about"), comprise (never "comprise of"), superior to, married to.
Worked example
"Neither the principal nor the teachers ___ aware of the circular." Reasoning: with neither ... nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject, "teachers", which is plural, so the answer is "were". Choosing "was" to match the singular "principal" is the standard error.
Traps
Matching the verb to the first subject in either/or sentences; forgetting to backshift in reported speech; inserting "about" after discuss; picking a synonym that ignores the sentence's tone.