English Language and Composition - Study Guide
What this domain tests
This domain tests grammar, usage, sentence correction, comprehension, precis and formal writing. Section Officer papers reward precision, not decorative language.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: 'One of the officers was on leave'; 'The number of applicants is rising'; 'A number of applicants are waiting'.
- Articles: use 'a' before consonant sounds and 'an' before vowel sounds; use 'the' for specific or unique references.
- Prepositions: 'discuss something', not 'discuss about'; 'senior to', not 'senior than'; 'comprise', not 'comprise of'.
- Tense consistency: keep the narrative tense unless the meaning requires a shift; use past perfect for the earlier of two past actions.
- Parallelism: items in a list must share grammatical form-'planning, implementing and evaluating', not 'planning, implementation and to evaluate'.
- Precis: capture the central idea in your own words, omit examples, and aim for about one-third of the original length.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: 'One of the recommendations that ___ (was/were) accepted is controversial.' The subject is 'One', not 'recommendations', so the main verb is singular: 'is'. Inside the relative clause, 'that' refers to 'recommendations', so 'were accepted' is correct. Full sentence: 'One of the recommendations that were accepted is controversial.' The trap is making both verbs agree with the nearest noun.
Traps that cost marks
- 'Return back', 'discuss about', 'comprise of' and 'one of my friend'.
- Misplaced modifiers: 'Walking to the office, the rain started' implies the rain was walking.
- Unclear pronoun reference: 'The officer told the clerk that he was late'-who was late?
- Writing a precis that copies whole sentences or adds opinion.