Inglés: Grammar, Reading and Vocabulary
The English section assesses grammar, reading comprehension and vocabulary at a pre-intermediate to intermediate level. Typical items test tenses, conditionals, passive voice, comparatives, prepositions, phrasal verbs and reading skills such as main idea, detail and inference.
Core rules
- Present perfect (have/has + past participle) is used with “since” for a starting point and “for” for a duration.
- Past simple describes a finished action at a specific past time; present perfect connects the past to the present.
- First conditional: If + present simple, will + infinitive. Second conditional: If + past simple, would + infinitive. Third conditional: If + past perfect, would have + past participle.
- Passive voice: be + past participle; the object of the active sentence becomes the subject.
- Subject-verb agreement: third-person singular takes -s in present simple.
Worked example
Complete: “She ___ (work) here since 2019.” The correct answer is “has worked”. “Since 2019” marks a starting point that continues to the present, so present perfect is required. “Worked” would suggest a finished period and would need a different time expression, such as “in 2019”. “Is working” describes an action in progress now, not a period starting in 2019.
Traps that cost marks
- False friends: “actually” means “en realidad”, not “actualmente”; “library” is “biblioteca”, not “librería”.
- Confusing “since” and “for”: since + point in time; for + period.
- Using double comparatives such as “more better”.
- Forgetting the auxiliary in questions and negatives: “Does she work?”, not “She works?”.
- Choosing a reading option that repeats words from the text but does not answer the question.