1. Reading Comprehension 📚

USTET passages test your ability to understand, analyze, and draw conclusions from written text.

Question Types

Type	What It Asks	Strategy
Main Idea	What is the passage mainly about?	Check first/last paragraph; look for repeated themes
Detail	Specific information from text	Locate keywords; answer is directly stated
Inference	What can be concluded?	Read between the lines; look for implications
Vocabulary	Word meaning in context	Replace word with choices; which fits best?
Author's Purpose	Why did author write this?	Inform, persuade, entertain, or describe?
Tone	Author's attitude toward topic	Look at word choices (positive/negative/neutral)

Active Reading Strategy

Steps for Efficient Reading

Skim passage first (30 seconds) - get general idea
Read questions BEFORE detailed reading
Mark key phrases and topic sentences
Go back to passage to find specific answers
Eliminate obviously wrong choices

2. Grammar & Language Proficiency ✍️

USTET grammar tests standard English rules. Know these common patterns!

Subject-Verb Agreement

Rules

Singular subject = singular verb
Plural subject = plural verb
Ignore words between subject and verb
"Each/Every" = singular
"Either...or/Neither...nor" = verb matches closest subject

Tricky Cases

"News" = singular (The news IS...)
"Mathematics/Physics" = singular
Collective nouns: usually singular
"None" can be singular or plural

Verb Tenses

Tense	When to Use	Example
Simple Present	Facts, habits, general truths	She works every day.
Present Progressive	Happening now	She is working now.
Simple Past	Completed action in past	She worked yesterday.
Past Progressive	Ongoing past action	She was working when I called.
Present Perfect	Past action with present relevance	She has worked here for 5 years.
Future	Will happen	She will work tomorrow.

Common Grammar Errors

Run-on Sentences: Two sentences joined without proper punctuation
Dangling Modifiers: Modifier doesn't clearly refer to the right word
Pronoun Reference: Unclear which noun the pronoun refers to
Parallelism: Items in a list should have the same structure
Wrong Word: affect/effect, their/there/they're, its/it's

3. Sentence Completion 🧩

Choose the word(s) that best complete the sentence.

Signal Words to Watch For

Same Direction:

and, also, moreover, likewise, similarly, furthermore

Opposite Direction:

but, however, although, despite, yet, nevertheless

Strategy

Read the entire sentence first
Predict what word should fit BEFORE looking at choices
Look for context clues within the sentence
Check if word has positive/negative connotation
Eliminate clearly wrong choices first

4. Error Identification 🔍

Spot the grammatical error in the underlined portions.

Check These First

Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun-antecedent agreement
Verb tense consistency
Parallel structure
Modifier placement
Commonly confused words

5. USTET English Tips 🎯

Exam Strategies

Read Regularly: Build vocabulary and comprehension naturally
Practice Grammar: Review rules and do practice tests
Time Management: Don't spend too long on one passage
Trust the Text: Answer based on what's written, not what you think
Process of Elimination: Cross out wrong answers to improve odds

6. Practice Questions 📋

Q1: "The committee (have/has) decided to postpone the meeting."

Answer: has (committee is singular when acting as one unit)

Q2: "Although he was tired, _____ he continued working."

No word needed - "Although" already indicates contrast. Remove the blank or "but." The sentence should be: "Although he was tired, he continued working."

Q3: Identify the error: "Each of the students have submitted their projects."

Error: "have" should be "has" (Each = singular). Correct: "Each of the students has submitted their projects."

Language Proficiency