English
English in the SAMPAD Grade 7 entrance test checks grammar accuracy, vocabulary in context, reading comprehension and clear sentence or paragraph writing. Questions often reward close reading rather than memorised definitions.
Core rules
- Make the verb agree with its subject; ignore phrases between them: The list of items is long.
- Keep tense consistent unless the time changes.
- Use articles by sound and specificity: a university, an hour, the sun.
- In either/or and neither/nor constructions, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- For comprehension, separate what the passage states from what you infer; answer with evidence.
- Punctuate direct speech correctly and avoid joining two complete sentences with only a comma.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: Neither the captain nor the players ___ ready.
The subject nearer the verb is players, which is plural, so use were: Neither the captain nor the players were ready. If the order were Neither the players nor the captain, the nearer subject is singular, so was would be correct. The conjunction pair controls the agreement pattern.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating each, every and everyone as plural.
- Using a comma to join two complete sentences (comma splice).
- Choosing a synonym that fits a dictionary but not the passage.
- Shifting from past to present inside one narrative.
- Writing an inference as if it were directly stated.
- Missing reference words such as it, they or this and attaching them to the wrong noun.