English Language and Communication Skills
English Language and Communication Skills tests grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and clear written expression. Questions typically require choosing the correct tense or preposition, completing a passage, identifying errors, or answering inference questions. For writing, cohesion matters: linkers such as however, therefore and although must match the logical relation.
Core rules
- Subject–verb agreement: singular subject takes singular verb; ignore intervening phrases.
- Tense: use present perfect for past action with present relevance; past simple for finished past time.
- Articles: a/an by sound, the for specific or unique reference.
- Prepositions: since + point in time; for + duration.
- Reported speech: shift tense and pronouns when the reporting verb is past.
- Comprehension: locate evidence, infer tone, and distinguish main idea from detail.
Worked example
‘One of the boys ___ absent.’ Reasoning: the subject is ‘one’, not ‘boys’; ‘of the boys’ is a prepositional phrase. ‘One’ is singular, so the verb is ‘is’. The full answer is ‘One of the boys is absent.’ A common wrong answer is ‘are’ because the plural noun is closer to the verb.
Traps
Agreement with the nearest noun; using ‘since’ with a duration; confusing ‘affect/effect’; changing tense in reported speech unnecessarily; choosing an answer that is grammatical but does not fit the passage meaning.