Grammar and Language Use
Grammar and language use
This domain tests tense, agreement, sentence structure and punctuation in context. Examiners reward control: sentences that are complete, correctly joined and consistently punctuated.
Sentence control
Every sentence needs a finite verb and a complete thought. Fix fragments ("Because the bus was late.") and run-ons ("The bus was late we walked."). Use subordinators - although, because, which, while - to show relationships instead of stringing clauses with "and".
Agreement and tense
- A singular subject takes a singular verb: "The list of items is long."
- "Each", "every" and "one of" take singular verbs.
- With "neither...nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- Collective nouns are usually singular: "The team is winning."
- Keep tense consistent; use past perfect for an earlier event.
Punctuation
- Comma splice: two main clauses joined only by a comma. Use a full stop, semicolon or conjunction.
- Apostrophes: singular possessive "'s"; plural possessive "s'"; "its" is possessive, "it's" means "it is".
- Direct speech: comma before the quotation, capital letter, punctuation inside the quotation marks.
Worked example
"The team, who was tired, were playing badly." Correction: "The team, which was tired, was playing badly." Reasoning: the team is treated as a unit, so the verb is singular; "which" refers to the unit, while "who" refers to people.
Traps that cost marks
- "Could of" for "could have".
- Missing apostrophes.
- Tense shifts in the middle of a narrative.
- Fragments in summaries.
- Double negatives.