English Language and Comprehension
English Language and Comprehension tests standard written English: grammar and usage, vocabulary, sentence improvement, error detection, idioms, cloze, and reading comprehension. The exam favours clear, formal English and close reading over literary interpretation.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun. One of the boys is; the number of cases is; a number of cases are.
- Tense and conditionals: use past perfect for the earlier of two past actions; use would have + past participle in the third conditional.
- Prepositions and articles: learn fixed collocations (comply with, prefer to, capable of); discuss takes no about.
- Reading comprehension: answer from the passage, not from general knowledge; locate the line that supports the option.
Worked example
Choose the correct sentence: (a) One of my friends are a doctor. (b) One of my friends is a doctor. Reasoning: the subject is One, singular; of my friends is a prepositional phrase. The verb must be is. Option (a) is wrong because friends is nearest but not the subject.
Traps
- Proximity agreement with one of, each of, neither of.
- Confusing affect/effect, principal/principle, complement/compliment.
- In error spotting, changing a correct part because it sounds wrong.
- In RC, choosing an option that is true but not stated.
Key points
- Identify the head noun before checking the verb.
- Memorise common collocations and idioms.
- For RC, underline the supporting sentence.
- In cloze, read the whole sentence before the blank.
- Eliminate options with wrong tense or preposition.