General English: Grammar Rules and Passage Reading
General English checks whether you can read a short passage and write correct, simple sentences. Expect reading comprehension, fill in the blanks, error spotting, sentence improvement, synonyms and antonyms, spelling, idioms and one-word substitutions, all at a matriculation standard.
Grammar rules that decide most questions
- Subject-verb agreement: with one of + plural noun, the verb agrees with one, so it stays singular. Each, every, either and neither also take a singular verb.
- Articles follow sound, not spelling: an hour, an MLA, but a university and a European.
- Fixed prepositions: discuss (no about), married to, prefer to, listen to, angry with a person but angry at a thing.
- Keep tenses consistent inside one sentence and keep lists parallel: she sings, dances and paints.
- In comprehension, answer only from the passage, never from general knowledge or personal opinion.
Worked example
Spot the error: One of my friend is working in the Reserve Bank. Reasoning: the phrase one of must be followed by a plural noun, so friend becomes friends. The verb stays singular because the real subject is one, not friends. Correct sentence: One of my friends is working in the Reserve Bank. The same trap appears in one of the boy, each of the student and none of the member.
Traps
Double comparatives such as more better; redundant pairs such as discuss about and return back; confusing fewer with less; forgetting the plural noun after one of; and picking a synonym that only fits a different context than the one in the sentence.