Foreign Language - English (ភាសាបរទេស)
What the paper tests
The English paper tests grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and short writing. Grade 9 items commonly include tenses, subject–verb agreement, articles, prepositions, conditionals, and inference from a short passage.
Core rules and concepts
- Present simple for habits and facts; present continuous for actions happening now.
- Subject–verb agreement: singular subjects take singular verbs, but watch indefinite pronouns such as each, everyone, and nobody, which are singular.
- First conditional: If + present simple, will + base verb.
- Articles: a/an for one non-specific countable noun; the for a specific or already mentioned noun.
- In reading questions, the answer must be supported by the text, not by personal opinion.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: “Each of the students ___ a book.” Reasoning: the subject is Each, not students. Each is singular, so the verb takes the singular form has. The prepositional phrase of the students does not change the subject. Correct sentence: “Each of the students has a book.” If the subject were The students, the verb would be have.
Traps that cost marks
Do not match the verb to the nearest noun in a prepositional phrase. Do not use will in the if-clause of a first conditional. Do not answer a reading question with a fact that is true in general but absent from the passage. Watch irregular past forms such as went, bought, and taught.
Exam focus
For writing, use short clear sentences with correct tense consistency and link ideas with because, although, and so.