English Language: Reading, Grammar and Guided Writing
The English Language paper tests reading comprehension, grammar and structure, vocabulary in context, and guided writing. Passages are usually short authentic-style texts, so answers must be inferred from the text rather than from isolated word knowledge.
Core rules
- Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links a past action to the present; past simple marks finished time.
- Third conditional: If + past perfect, would have + past participle, for unreal past situations.
- Passive voice: the object becomes subject; the verb becomes be + past participle, keeping the original tense.
- Reported speech: shift the tense back one step and adjust pronouns and time markers.
- Relative clauses use who/which/whose/where; defining clauses take no commas.
- Modals: must/have to for obligation, should for advice, can for ability.
Worked example
Rewrite in the passive: The committee approved the new plan yesterday. Identify the object: the new plan. Keep the past simple: was approved. The agent is optional. Answer: The new plan was approved (by the committee) yesterday. If the original were present perfect, the passive would be has been approved, not was approved.
Traps
- Matching the verb to the nearest noun instead of the real subject (subject–verb agreement).
- Using past simple with for/since when present perfect is required.
- Dropping the auxiliary be in passive forms.
- Misreading a true/false item when the passage says not or only.
- Writing a guided paragraph without linking words or a clear topic sentence.