English
What the paper tests
Most English marks come from five clusters: vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms), grammar and usage (parts of speech, tense, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, voice, narration), sentence correction, analogies, and short comprehension passages.
Concepts you must hold
For vocabulary, build word families rather than isolated words; a synonym question almost always has one option that is only a near theme, not an exact match. In grammar, remember that each, every, either, neither, none and one take singular verbs in formal usage, that collective nouns agree with the sense of the sentence, and that a preposition must fit the verb-adjective pair (complain of, capable of, prefer to, married to). For analogies, say the relationship aloud in a short phrase before reading the options: tool to user, part to whole, degree of intensity.
Traps
Extreme options (always, never, all, none) in comprehension and sentence-completion are usually wrong. Look-alike pairs are favourites: affect/effect, principal/principle, stationary/stationery, then/than. In error-spotting, the mistake often hides behind a plural-sounding subject.
Worked example
"The number of candidates who appeared in the test ___ increasing." Options: are / were / is / have. The subject is "the number", which is singular, so the answer is "is", even though "candidates" sits between subject and verb. Rule of thumb: cross out the prepositional phrase between subject and verb, then choose agreement.