English Language
What is tested
Grammar (tense, subject–verb agreement, articles, prepositions, conditionals, voice, reported speech), vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms), comprehension, and writing (letters, essays, precis, translation). Inspector papers favour error-spotting and sentence improvement.
Rules that decide marks
- ‘One of + plural noun’ takes a singular verb; with ‘either…or / neither…nor’ the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- ‘Police’ is plural; ‘information, furniture, advice, luggage’ are uncountable - no plural -s, singular verb.
- ‘Fewer’ with countables, ‘less’ with uncountables; ‘since’ with a point in time, ‘for’ with a duration.
- Third conditional: if + had + V3, would have + V3 - not ‘would have’ in both clauses.
- Reported speech shifts tense back one step and adjusts time and place words.
Worked example
Choose the verb: ‘One of the constables ______ (have/has) filed the report.’ The subject is ‘one’, not ‘constables’; the prepositional phrase does not change agreement, so has. Contrast: ‘Neither the inspector nor the constables were present’ - the nearer subject is plural.
Traps
- Matching the verb to the noun nearest it instead of the true subject.
- ‘Should have + V2’ (should have went); it is always V3.
- Confusing affect/effect, principal/principle, its/it’s.
- Filling essays with memorised openers; examiners reward structure and relevance, not length.