Grammar: Structure and Usage in Business Contexts
What the Grammar section tests
iTEP Business-Core Grammar checks control of structure and usage inside workplace sentences: email fragments, meeting notes, policy statements, and short reports. Items typically ask you to choose the word or phrase that completes a sentence or to identify the version that is grammatically sound. The focus is not literary English; it is the everyday accuracy a business reader expects.
Core rules to control
- Subject–verb agreement with collective nouns. The board has approved... but The board have split... when members act individually. In American business English, treat committee, team, staff, company as singular unless the sentence clearly stresses individual members.
- Tense and reported speech. Keep the reporting verb and time frame consistent: She said the deadline had moved, not has moved, when the move happened before the conversation.
- Modals for workplace tone. Could you...? is a request; You must... is obligation; We may... is possibility. Do not use would for a past habit unless the sentence is narrative.
- Preposition collocations. responsible for, comply with, report to, depend on, in charge of.
- Parallelism in lists. The role requires drafting reports, scheduling meetings, and updating clients - not to update clients.
Worked example
The committee ___ yet to approve the budget, although several members ___ raised concerns. Options: (A) has / has (B) have / have (C) has / have (D) have / has. Reasoning: committee is treated as one body, so singular has. Several members is plural, so have. Answer: C. The contrast word although does not change agreement; it only signals that the second clause may describe individual action.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing the plural because the noun names a group of people.
- Missing a hidden singular subject: Each of the proposals is...
- Confusing fewer (countable) with less (uncountable): fewer delays, less delay.
- Dangling modifiers in email openers: Having reviewed the file, the error was found should be Having reviewed the file, we found the error.
- Look forward to hear - after to, use the gerund: look forward to hearing.