Grammar and Syntax
Grammar and Syntax checks your control of form and sentence structure under entrance-exam conditions: tense and aspect, subject–verb agreement, clauses, conditionals, non-finite phrases, modifiers, and punctuation. The exam rewards the smallest grammatical decision that makes the sentence correct, not the most complicated rewrite.
Core rules
- Find the finite verb and its real subject. Agreement ignores prepositional phrases: “The list of items was on the desk,” not “were.”
- Use time markers and sequence. Present perfect connects past to now; past perfect marks an earlier past event.
- In relative clauses, “who” refers to people, “which” to things, and “that” can be restrictive. A comma plus “which” adds extra information.
- Participles must attach to the subject of the main clause. Avoid dangling modifiers.
- In conditionals: “if + past, would + base verb”; “if + had + past participle, would have + past participle.”
- Keep parallel items in the same form: “reading, writing, and speaking,” not “reading, writing, and to speak.”
Worked example
“Walking through the park, the cherry blossoms impressed Maya.” The opening participle “walking” should describe Maya, but the main subject is “the cherry blossoms,” which cannot walk. Correct it by making Maya the subject: “Walking through the park, Maya was impressed by the cherry blossoms.”
Traps that cost marks
- Proximity agreement: a plural noun next to the verb can hide a singular head noun.
- Using “will” in an if-clause: “If it will rain” is wrong; use “If it rains.”
- Comma splices: two full clauses need a conjunction, semicolon, or full stop.
- Confusing “its” and “it’s”; “their,” “there,” and “they’re.”
- Breaking parallelism after “not only … but also.”