General English: grammar in use
General English for the ASO paper tests control of standard written grammar and vocabulary, usually through error spotting, sentence improvement, fill-in-the-blanks, synonym/antonym, one-word substitution, idioms, cloze passages and a short comprehension passage. Questions are typically single-sentence and rule-based, so a small set of rules covers a large share of the paper.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not with an intervening phrase. Collective nouns take a singular verb when acting as one unit.
- Tense sequencing: use past perfect only for the earlier of two past actions; after since/for a present perfect or present perfect continuous is normal.
- Articles: a/an by sound (an hour, a university); the for unique or already-specified nouns.
- Prepositions are fixed collocations - comprise takes no of, discuss takes no about, superior to, prefer to.
- Vocabulary: synonyms/antonyms are best answered by substituting the option into the sentence and testing the sense.
Worked example
One of my friend has gone to Delhi. The phrase one of must be followed by a plural noun, and the verb agrees with one. Correct: One of my friends has gone to Delhi. The reasoning is structural: singular head (one) + plural noun after of.
Traps that cost marks
- Being misled by the noun nearest the verb in long sentences (The list of items was…).
- Marking a sentence wrong for a stylistic choice while missing a real agreement or preposition error.
- Confusing affect/effect, principal/principle, complement/compliment.
- Answering comprehension questions from general knowledge instead of the passage.