English: Grammar, Usage, Vocabulary and Comprehension
English on the ETEA test checks grammar and usage, sentence correction, vocabulary (synonyms and antonyms), prepositions, idioms, and short reading comprehension. The section is scored like the rest, so accuracy in the grammar items protects marks that expensive calculations elsewhere cannot recover.
Core rules to hold
- Subject–verb agreement ignores prepositional phrases: in "one of the boys", the subject is "one" and takes a singular verb.
- With either/or and neither/nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
- Use "since" with a point in time and "for" with a duration.
- A modifier must sit next to what it describes; a phrase opening a sentence describes the subject that follows.
- Fewer counts things, less measures quantity; affect is a verb, effect is usually a noun.
Worked example
Choose the correct verb: "One of the students ___ submitted the assignment." (have / has) The head word is "one", which is singular; "of the students" is a prepositional phrase and does not control agreement. The correct form is "has". The same logic gives "Each of the answers is correct" and "Neither of the proposals was accepted".
Traps that cost marks
- Matching the verb to the nearest plural noun instead of the true subject.
- Splitting an infinitive or dangling a participle in a way that changes the meaning of the sentence.
- Choosing an antonym when a synonym is asked for, especially with words like "candid" or "frugal".
- Answering comprehension items from general knowledge rather than from the passage given.