General English (Grammar, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Sentence Correction)
General English checks functional grammar and comprehension: subject–verb agreement, tense, prepositions, articles, sentence correction, vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitutions, idioms) and reading comprehension. Lower PCS favours clear rule application over obscure literary vocabulary.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. Phrases such as “one of the + plural noun” take a singular verb because the head is “one”.
- Tense consistency: use the past perfect for the earlier of two past actions; use the present perfect for a past action with a present result.
- Prepositions are fixed by usage: agree with, comply with, prefer to, superior to, married to.
- Sentence correction: check parallelism, modifier placement, pronoun reference and countable/uncountable quantifiers.
- Comprehension: locate the sentence that supports the answer; do not import outside facts.
Worked example
“One of the boys ___ absent.” Options: are/is/were/have. The head noun is “one”, not “boys”; “one” is singular, so the verb is “is”. The plural “boys” sits inside the prepositional phrase “of the boys” and does not control agreement.
Traps
Collective nouns may take a singular verb when acting as one unit; “none” can be singular or plural depending on sense; dangling modifiers occur when the introductory phrase does not describe the subject; and “since” with a present perfect needs a starting point. In comprehension, extreme options are often wrong.