English
The English paper checks whether you can use the language accurately and quickly, not whether you can recite grammar rules. Expect synonyms and antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms, spelling, sentence correction, prepositions, tenses, active/passive and direct/indirect speech, plus a short comprehension passage and sentence-ordering items. Most questions are short; the marks are lost on small details, not on obscure vocabulary.
Rules that decide most items
- Subject-verb agreement follows the head noun, not the nearest word: The list of items is long; One of the boys was absent.
- Fixed prepositions: consist of, comply with, depend on, capable of, prefer X to Y.
- Conditionals: If + present → will; If + past → would; If + had + V3 → would have + V3.
- Reported speech: shift the tense back one step and change pronouns and time words (today → that day).
- Idioms are learnt as whole units: to burn the midnight oil means to study late, not to light a lamp.
Worked example
Choose the correct form: He is one of the best (player / players) in the team.
Reasoning: the pattern is one of the + plural noun, because the noun after of names a group the subject belongs to. The head word is one, so the main verb stays singular, while the noun after of must be plural → players. Do not let the plural next to the verb pull the verb into the plural.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing up affect/effect, principal/principle, stationary/stationery.
- Double negatives: He didn't do nothing is wrong in standard English.
- Dangling modifiers: Walking home, the rain started - the rain was not walking.
- Answering from the sound of a word rather than from the grammar of the sentence.
- Spending too long on one idiom and losing the easy comprehension marks at the end.