Foreign Language
The foreign language paper, usually English, tests reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, and short writing. High-frequency grammar includes present perfect versus past simple, conditionals, passive voice, reported speech, and relative clauses.
Core rules
- Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links past to present; use since with a point in time and for with a duration.
- First conditional: if + present simple, will + infinitive; second conditional: if + past simple, would + infinitive.
- Passive: be + past participle; keep the tense of the active sentence.
- Reported speech: shift tense back and adjust pronouns and time expressions.
Worked example
Complete: “She ___ (live) in Astana since 2018.” Answer: has lived. The action began in 2018 and continues, so present perfect is required; since introduces the starting point. Past simple lived would suggest a finished period and would not combine with since 2018 here.
Traps
- Using for with a point in time and since with a duration.
- Forgetting the past participle in perfect tenses.
- Breaking the tense shift in reported speech.
- Choosing an answer because it sounds familiar rather than checking the time marker.
- In reading tasks, choosing an option that repeats words from the text but distorts the meaning.