Myanmar Matriculation English common mistakes
Myanmar Matriculation English · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering reading comprehension questions from memory of the passage's general topic instead of locating and quoting the exact lines that support the answer, so the chosen option is plausible but not what the passage says.
Under time pressure, candidates skim once, recognise a familiar theme (e.g. deforestation, education), and select the option that matches their own background knowledge rather than re-reading the relevant paragraph. Distractor options are usually written to sound true in general.
What to do instead
For every question, underline the key word in the question, then find and mark the sentence in the passage that answers it. Write the line number beside the option you choose. If you cannot point to a supporting sentence, the option is wrong. Practise with past-style passages by covering the options first and writing your own answer, then matching it to the closest option.
Misreading the exact wording of the question stem - answering 'which is NOT true', 'the main purpose', or 'the writer implies' as if it asked 'which is true' or 'what happened'.
Negative and inference stems are short and easy to skim past; candidates read the first few words and assume the familiar 'which is true' format. Time pressure makes this worse in the final passage.
What to do instead
Circle the instruction words (NOT, EXCEPT, main idea, implies, according to the writer) before reading the options. For NOT/EXCEPT questions, tick each option that is true in the passage and choose the unticked one. For inference questions, reject options that are stated directly - the answer must be a conclusion the passage supports but does not state.
In guided writing, copying chunks of the prompt or the given notes verbatim into the composition instead of rephrasing them into full sentences with linking words.
Candidates fear making grammar errors, so lifting the prompt's words feels safe. Mark schemes reward original sentences, paragraphing and connectives, so copied phrases earn little and often break the sentence structure.
What to do instead
Treat the notes as a checklist, not text. For each note, write one full sentence in your own words, then join related sentences with a connective (because, although, as a result, in addition, however). After writing, compare your draft with the prompt and rewrite any phrase longer than three words that matches it.
Writing a free composition with no clear paragraph plan - one long block of text, weak or missing topic sentences, and no conclusion.
In the exam hall candidates start writing the introduction and run out of ideas mid-way, so points pile up in a single paragraph. Paragraphing and organisation carry real marks and are quick to lose.
What to do instead
Spend three minutes before writing to jot a four-part plan: introduction with a clear position, two body paragraphs each with one main point plus an example or reason, and a conclusion restating the position. Start every body paragraph with a topic sentence, and leave a blank line between paragraphs so the examiner can see the structure.
Producing compositions that are too short or padded with repetition, falling outside the expected length and losing content marks.
Candidates either underestimate how much they need to write or repeat the same idea in different words to fill space, which the examiner sees as no development.
What to do instead
Count the expected word length and plan roughly one developed idea per 40–50 words. Develop each point with a reason plus a concrete example (a personal experience, a local situation) rather than restating it. In the last two minutes, count your words and check that each body paragraph adds a new point.
Confusing tenses in narrated or reported writing - slipping between past and present within the same paragraph, or failing to backshift after 'said that'.
Myanmar-language narrative often allows tense flexibility, and candidates translate the storyline mentally rather than applying English tense rules. Reported speech backshift is a frequent gap.
What to do instead
Decide the time frame before writing: narratives and reports go in the past. In reported speech, move the verb one step back (is → was, will → would, has → had) and change pronouns and time words (today → that day, tomorrow → the next day). After drafting, read each sentence and check its verb matches the time frame of its paragraph.
Choosing the wrong verb form after a subject or in a conditional - ignoring third-person -s, subject–verb agreement with collective or compound subjects, and the if-clause pattern.
Agreement and conditionals are taught as rules but drilled in isolation, so under exam pressure candidates rely on how the sentence 'sounds' in their head, which is shaped by their first language.
What to do instead
Learn the conditional patterns as fixed frames: if + present simple, will + base verb (first); if + past simple, would + base verb (second); if + past perfect, would have + past participle (third). For agreement, find the true subject and ignore phrases between it and the verb. Do ten transformation items a day and say the rule aloud as you answer.
Misusing articles, prepositions and countable/uncountable quantifiers in gap-fill and error-correction items - e.g. 'an advice', 'discuss about', 'in the last two years ago'.
Myanmar has no articles and a different preposition system, so these small words carry no intuitive signal. Candidates guess from the nearest noun rather than from rules about specific vs general reference.
What to do instead
Build a personal error list of the twenty article and preposition combinations that appear most in past papers (in spite of, despite, depend on, married to, interested in, a/an + singular countable, no article with uncountable general reference). For each gap, ask: is the noun specific or general, countable or uncountable? Then apply the rule before choosing.
Guessing vocabulary-in-context items from the word's most common dictionary meaning, ignoring the sentence's collocations and tone.
Candidates memorise one meaning per word from a word list. Exam items test the meaning that fits the sentence, and distractors are often the word's other, more familiar sense.
What to do instead
Substitute each option back into the sentence and read the whole sentence for logic and collocation. Learn words in phrases, not alone (e.g. 'carry out research', 'heavy rain', 'a strong argument'), and record the part of speech and a sample sentence for every new word. For tone questions, decide first whether the passage is positive, negative or neutral, then eliminate options that clash.
Losing marks on transformation and sentence-joining items by changing the meaning - adding or dropping information while rewriting, or joining two sentences with a comma splice.
Candidates focus on producing the required structure (passive, reported speech, relative clause) and forget the original meaning must survive. Comma splices come from translating the joining word directly.
What to do instead
After each transformation, compare your sentence with the original and check every piece of information is still present and the time reference is unchanged. Join clauses only with a conjunction, a semicolon, or a relative pronoun - never a bare comma. Practise a fixed set of patterns (too…to / so…that / enough to; although / despite; active / passive) until the conversions are automatic.