English & Grammar
Vocabulary, Grammar Rules, and Language Proficiency
In This Lesson
Vocabulary Building
Context Clues
Use surrounding words to determine unknown word meanings:
- Definition: "The aardvark, a nocturnal mammal, sleeps during the day."
- Example: "Legumes, such as beans and lentils, are nutritious."
- Contrast: "Unlike the timid mouse, the lion is bold and fearless."
- Inference: "After the drought, the parched land cracked under the sun."
Common Prefixes
un-, in-, im-, dis-: not (unhappy, invisible)
re-: again (redo, revisit)
pre-: before (preview, predict)
mis-: wrongly (mistake, mislead)
anti-: against (antibody, antithesis)
sub-: under (submarine, subtract)
trans-: across (transport, transfer)
over-: excessive (overwork, overflow)
Common Suffixes
-able, -ible: capable of (readable, visible)
-tion, -sion: act/state (action, decision)
-ment: result of (achievement, development)
-ness: state of (happiness, darkness)
-ful: full of (helpful, beautiful)
-less: without (hopeless, careless)
-ly: in what manner (quickly, slowly)
-ous: full of (dangerous, famous)
Root Words
- aud: hear (audio, audible, audience)
- bene: good (benefit, benevolent)
- cred: believe (credit, credible)
- dict: say (dictate, predict)
- graph: write (graphic, biography)
- port: carry (transport, portable)
- scrib/script: write (describe, manuscript)
- vis/vid: see (visible, video)
Grammar Rules
Subject-Verb Agreement
- Singular subjects take singular verbs: "The dog runs fast."
- Plural subjects take plural verbs: "The dogs run fast."
- Compound subjects with "and" = plural: "Tom and Jerry are friends."
- Either/or, neither/nor: Verb agrees with closer subject
- Collective nouns can be singular or plural based on context
Pronoun Rules
- Agreement: Pronouns must match antecedents in number and gender
- Reference: Clear antecedent for every pronoun
- Case: Subject (I, he, she) vs. Object (me, him, her)
- Who/whom: Who = subject, Whom = object
- Its (possessive) vs. It's (it is)
Verb Tenses
Simple Tenses
- Past: He walked
- Present: He walks
- Future: He will walk
Perfect Tenses
- Past: He had walked
- Present: He has walked
- Future: He will have walked
Rule: Maintain consistent tense throughout a passage unless there's a logical shift
Parallel Structure
Items in a list or comparison must have the same grammatical form:
- ❌ "She likes swimming, to hike, and biking"
- ✓ "She likes swimming, hiking, and biking"
- ❌ "Not only does he sing but also he dances"
- ✓ "Not only does he sing, but he also dances"
Modifier Placement
- Modifiers should be placed near the words they modify
- Dangling modifier: "Walking to school, the rain started." (Wrong: Rain wasn't walking)
- Corrected: "Walking to school, I got caught in the rain."
- Misplaced: "I only ate three cookies" vs. "I ate only three cookies"
Sentence Correction
Common Errors to Watch For
- Subject-verb agreement
- Pronoun reference and case
- Verb tense consistency
- Parallel structure
- Misplaced/dangling modifiers
- Run-on sentences and fragments
- Comma splices
- Wordiness and redundancy
Run-On Sentences
Two independent clauses incorrectly joined:
- ❌ "I love pizza it's my favorite food."
- ✓ "I love pizza. It's my favorite food." (Period)
- ✓ "I love pizza; it's my favorite food." (Semicolon)
- ✓ "I love pizza because it's my favorite food." (Conjunction)
Comma Splices
Two independent clauses joined only by a comma:
- ❌ "She studied hard, she passed the exam."
- ✓ "She studied hard, and she passed the exam."
- ✓ "She studied hard; therefore, she passed the exam."
Commonly Confused Words
affect/effect: Affect = verb, Effect = noun
their/there/they're: Possessive, Place, They are
your/you're: Possessive, You are
its/it's: Possessive, It is
than/then: Comparison, Time sequence
accept/except: Receive, Exclude
principal/principle: Main/head, Rule
complement/compliment: Complete, Praise
Wordiness to Avoid
- "At this point in time" → "Now"
- "Due to the fact that" → "Because"
- "In spite of the fact that" → "Although"
- "In the event that" → "If"
- "The reason is because" → "Because"
Idioms & Expressions
What are Idioms?
Idioms are phrases whose meanings cannot be understood from the literal meanings of the individual words. They're commonly tested in English proficiency exams.
Common Idioms
- Break the ice: Start a conversation, ease tension
- Hit the nail on the head: Be exactly right
- Kill two birds with one stone: Accomplish two things at once
- Let the cat out of the bag: Reveal a secret
- Piece of cake: Very easy
- Back to the drawing board: Start over
- Beat around the bush: Avoid the main topic
- Bite the bullet: Face a difficult situation
Prepositional Idioms
- Agree with (a person), agree to (a proposal)
- Different from (not "different than")
- Consist of (not "consist in")
- Independent of (not "independent from")
- Preoccupied with
- Prefer X to Y (not "prefer X over Y")
Expressions with "Make" and "Do"
Make
Make a decision, make an effort, make progress, make sense, make a mistake
Do
Do homework, do research, do the dishes, do your best, do damage
Verbal Analogies
Understanding Analogies
Analogies test your ability to recognize relationships between word pairs. Format: A is to B as C is to D. You must identify the relationship in the first pair and apply it to find the answer.
Common Relationship Types
- Synonyms: Happy : Joyful :: Sad : Melancholy
- Antonyms: Hot : Cold :: Light : Dark
- Part to Whole: Finger : Hand :: Toe : Foot
- Category: Rose : Flower :: Oak : Tree
- Degree: Warm : Hot :: Cool : Cold
- Function: Knife : Cut :: Pen : Write
- Worker to Tool: Chef : Knife :: Carpenter : Hammer
- Cause and Effect: Rain : Flood :: Fire : Smoke
Steps to Solve Analogies
- Determine the relationship in the first pair
- Create a sentence describing that relationship
- Apply the same sentence to the answer choices
- Eliminate choices that don't fit
- Verify your answer maintains the same relationship type
Practice Examples
- AUTHOR : BOOK :: Composer : Symphony (Creator : Creation)
- WHISPER : SHOUT :: Walk : Run (Degree of intensity)
- FISH : SCHOOL :: Lion : Pride (Animal : Group name)
- DOCTOR : HOSPITAL :: Teacher : School (Worker : Workplace)
- HUNGRY : EAT :: Tired : Sleep (Condition : Action)
Tips for Analogies
- Be specific about the relationship (not just "related")
- Consider multiple meanings of words
- Watch for part of speech (noun, verb, adjective)
- Eliminate obviously wrong answers first
- If two answers seem right, find the more precise relationship