Grammar and Vocabulary
Grammar and Vocabulary
This section checks accurate use of core grammar and vocabulary in context. Typical items include tense, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, comparatives, infinitives and gerunds, relative pronouns, and common collocations. Questions may be fill-in-the-blank, word ordering, or choosing the best word.
Core rules
- Match the verb to the subject; ignore phrases between them. 'The box of books is heavy,' not 'are heavy.'
- Keep tense consistent unless a time word signals a change: yesterday, now, next week.
- Learn patterns, not isolated words: enjoy + -ing, want + to + base verb, look forward to + -ing.
- Check countable and uncountable nouns: information, advice, and furniture take singular verbs and no plural -s.
- For comparatives, use -er for short adjectives and more + adjective for long ones: taller, more expensive.
Worked example
Question: 'If it ( ) tomorrow, we will cancel the picnic.' Options: rains / will rain / rained / raining. Reasoning: this is a first conditional: If + present simple, will + base verb. The if-clause takes 'rains,' not 'will rain.' The correct answer is rains. The trap 'will rain' is a common error because learners copy the future meaning into both clauses.
Traps
- Using will in an if-clause for future conditions.
- Forgetting third-person -s in the present simple: 'She go' instead of 'She goes.'
- Confusing few and a few: few means almost none; a few means some.
- Using a plural noun after 'one of the': 'one of the student' should be 'one of the students.'