GCE A/L General English cheat sheet

Main idea = what the whole passage asserts; a detail supports it but cannot replace it. Test: cover the paragraph and state its single claim.

Question stems signal task type: 'infer' needs a conclusion not stated; 'according to' needs a stated detail; 'tone' needs an attitude adjective.

Scan for discourse markers (however, therefore, in contrast, for example) - they mark the logical relation the answer usually depends on.

Pronoun reference questions: trace it/this/they back to the nearest preceding noun phrase that agrees in number and makes sense.

Vocabulary-in-context: substitute each option into the sentence and keep only the one preserving the surrounding logic, not the most common dictionary sense.

Inference must be forced by the text; if an option needs outside knowledge or an extra assumption, it is wrong.

Writer's attitude is carried by evaluative adjectives and adverbs (regrettably, notably, merely) rather than by bare facts.

For 'purpose of the passage' questions, distinguish inform, persuade, entertain, and instruct - the opening and closing sentences usually name the purpose.

Collocation beats synonymy: choose the word that forms a natural partnership (heavy rain, strong wind; make a decision, do a favour).

Connotation triad: positive / neutral / negative - e.g. thrifty, economical, stingy share the sense 'careful with money' but differ in attitude.

Register pairs: formal (commence, purchase, sufficient) vs informal (start, buy, enough); match the surrounding text.

False friends and confusables: affect (verb) / effect (noun); economic (of the economy) / economical (thrifty); sensible (reasonable) / sensitive (easily hurt).

Phrasal verb meaning shifts with the particle: put off = postpone, put out = extinguish, put up with = tolerate.

Degree scales let you eliminate: cold < cool < chilly < freezing - pick the word matching the intensity implied.

Word families: knowing the noun/verb/adjective/adverb forms (decide, decision, decisive, decisively) is needed for gap-fill where the part of speech is fixed by syntax.

Suffixes set the part of speech: -tion/-ment/-ness/-ity (noun), -ous/-ful/-able/-ive (adjective), -ly (adverb), -ise/-ify/-en (verb).

Prefixes change meaning, not class: un-/in-/im-/il-/ir- (negation), re- (again), over-/under- (degree), mis- (wrongly), pre-/post- (time).

Spelling adjustments on suffixation: happy → happiness (y→i), begin → beginning (double consonant after stressed short vowel), fame → famous (drop e before vowel suffix).

Assimilation of in-: im- before b/m/p (impossible, immature), il- before l, ir- before r, in- elsewhere.

Idioms are fixed: no article or preposition changes (in charge of, on behalf of, by means of, make up one's mind).

Idiom meaning is not compositional: 'break the ice' = start a conversation; 'let the cat out of the bag' = reveal a secret.

Noun plurals of compounds and loanwords: mothers-in-law, passers-by; criterion → criteria, phenomenon → phenomena, datum → data.

Subject–verb agreement: the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun - 'The list of items is long'; 'One of the boys was absent'.

Indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, nobody, either) take singular verbs; 'neither ... nor' and 'either ... or' agree with the nearer subject.

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links past to present and rejects finished-time markers (yesterday, last year); past simple takes them.

Past perfect marks the earlier of two past events: 'When we arrived, the film had started.'

Articles: a/an for first mention or one of a class; the for shared/unique reference and superlatives; zero article for general plurals and abstract nouns (Life is short).

Relative clauses: defining clauses take no commas and allow 'that'; non-defining clauses take commas and forbid 'that'.

Conditionals: type 1 if + present, will; type 2 if + past, would; type 3 if + past perfect, would have + participle.

Reported speech backshifts one tense (present → past, will → would) and adjusts pronouns, time and place words.

Decide the missing word's class from its slot: before a noun → article/adjective; between subject and verb → adverb; before a main verb → auxiliary or modal.

Read the whole sentence, then the whole paragraph: a gap may depend on a connector two clauses away (however, because, although).

Fixed prepositions follow certain words: depend on, insist on, capable of, interested in, good at, afraid of, married to.

Parallelism test for error correction: items joined by and/or/but must share grammatical form (to swim, to run - not to swim, running).

Redundancy errors: 'discuss about', 'return back', 'more better', 'very unique' - one word already contains the meaning.

Countability errors: 'informations', 'advices', 'furnitures' are uncountable → use a piece of information / some advice.

Connector logic: contrast (however, nevertheless), cause (therefore, consequently), addition (moreover, furthermore), example (for instance).

Formal letter frame: sender's address, date, recipient's name and address, salutation (Dear Mr Silva / Dear Sir or Madam), body, 'Yours sincerely' (named) or 'Yours faithfully' (unnamed).

Semi-formal/informal letter: 'Dear Nimal' pairs with 'Yours ever' / 'Best wishes'; contractions are acceptable only here.

Email fields fix the register: a clear subject line, one purpose per message, sign-off matched to the opening greeting.

Notice content answers who, what, when, where, and whom to contact - written in impersonal style, often with headings and short lines.

Report structure: title, terms of reference (why written), procedure (how information was gathered), findings, conclusion, recommendations.

Formal register markers: no contractions, no slang, passive voice for impersonal statements, modal hedging (would be grateful, could you).

Opening purpose sentence names the reason and any reference: 'I am writing to apply for the post of ... advertised on ...'

Paragraph unity: one controlling idea per paragraph, announced in a topic sentence, developed by evidence or example, closed by a link.

Essay frame: introduction (context + thesis), body paragraphs (one point each), conclusion (restate thesis, no new arguments).

Cohesion devices: pronoun substitution, synonyms, and connectors (firstly, in addition, by contrast, as a result) tie sentences to the previous one.

Argument paragraph pattern: claim → reason → evidence/example → link back to the question.

Question directives decide structure: 'discuss' gives both sides; 'argue' takes one position; 'describe' is factual; 'compare' names similarities and differences explicitly.

Word-limit discipline: plan points before writing; extra length without new points lowers the mark for relevance.

Sentence variety: alternate simple, compound and complex sentences; avoid starting consecutive sentences with the same word.

Comma rules: separates items in a list, marks introductory phrases, and sets off non-defining clauses; it never joins two independent clauses (use a full stop or semicolon).

Semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses; colon introduces a list, explanation or quotation.

Apostrophe: possessive singular 's (the boy's), plural s' (the boys'), and its = possessive vs it's = it is.

Direct speech: quotation marks around the exact words, comma before the closing quote, new paragraph for a new speaker.

Common misspellings: separate, definitely, receive (ei after c), accommodation, occurrence, government, necessary.

Register/appropriacy: match formality to audience - no slang or contractions in formal writing, no archaic phrasing (hereby, aforesaid) in ordinary letters.

Hyphen vs dash: hyphen joins compound modifiers before a noun (well-known author); dash marks a break in thought (no spaces in British style).