Grammar and Sentence Structure
What grammar items recur
Nagano grammar items test sentence structure: tense and aspect, comparatives, passive voice, infinitives and gerunds, relative clauses, conditionals, indirect questions, and subject-verb agreement. Many items are not isolated rules but sentence-building choices.
Core rules
- Find the main subject and verb first. Every English sentence needs one finite verb; a relative clause adds another verb but not another main subject.
- Match time markers to tense: 'yesterday' takes past; 'since 2020' takes present perfect; 'tomorrow' takes future or present progressive for plans.
- In indirect questions, use statement order: 'Do you know where he lives?' not 'where does he live.'
- After prepositions and 'enjoy/finish/stop,' use -ing; after 'want/decide/hope,' use to + base form.
- Comparatives need than; superlatives need the and a range.
Worked example
'This is the book ___ I borrowed from the library last week.' Options: who / which / where / whose. The blank refers to 'book,' a thing, and is the object of 'borrowed.' Use 'which' or 'that.' 'Who' is for people; 'where' for places; 'whose' for possession. The correct answer is 'which.'
Traps
- Double conjunction: 'Because it was raining, so we stayed home' is wrong; use one.
- Relative clause with a repeated object: 'the book which I bought it' is wrong.
- Tense shift in reported speech: 'He said he was tired,' not 'he is tired' when the reporting verb is past.
- Missing article or plural: 'She is student' and 'many book' lose marks.
Exam habit
Label the sentence pattern (SV, SVO, SVOO, SVOC). Then check agreement and tense. This catches most distractors.