Grammar and Vocabulary
What grammar and vocabulary items test
This section checks form and meaning in context: tense, auxiliaries, comparatives, passive voice, infinitives and gerunds, relative pronouns, conjunctions, and word order. Vocabulary items usually test a word in a sentence, not an isolated list. The safest method is to identify the grammatical slot first, then choose the form that fits it.
Core rules
- A sentence needs one main verb. If there is already a verb, a second verb must be a participle, infinitive, or in a subordinate clause.
- Match tense to time words: 'yesterday' with past, 'since 2020' with present perfect, 'tomorrow' with future.
- After prepositions, use a gerund: 'good at swimming', not 'good at swim'.
- Relative pronoun: who for people, which for things, that for either in defining clauses; whose for possession.
- Comparatives: 'as tall as', 'taller than', 'the tallest in'.
- Passive: be + past participle; check whether the subject does or receives the action.
Worked example
'This is the book ( that / who / whose ) I told you about.' Reasoning: The antecedent is 'book', a thing, so 'who' is impossible. 'Whose' would need a noun after it ('whose cover'). 'That' is the object of 'told you about', so it can be omitted or used. Correct: that.
Traps
- Subject-verb agreement with nearby nouns: 'The box of pencils is...'
- Double auxiliaries: 'He can plays' is wrong.
- Japanese loanword meanings: 'naive', 'smart', and 'challenge' do not map one-to-one.
- Word-order items: put the question word or conjunction first, then the subject and verb in the required order.