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tags: - cocubes - aptitude - english

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English Methods

High-yield grammar rules

Rule	Correct pattern
Subject-verb agreement	Each of the students is ready.
Either/neither	Neither of the answers is correct.
Along with/as well as	The manager, along with her team, is attending.
One of	One of the books is missing.
Many a	Many a student has tried.
Less/fewer	Less water, fewer bottles.
Since/for	Since 2022, for three years.
Between/among	Between two; among three or more.
Who/whom	Who is subject; whom is object.
Article	an honest person; a university; the unique item.

Tense and sequence

• Use present perfect for an action connected to now: "I have finished."
• Use simple past with a finished time: "I finished yesterday."
• In reported speech, tense often shifts back when the reporting verb is past.
• Keep tense consistent unless the time truly changes.

Error-spotting method

Read once for meaning, then check in this exact order:

1. subject and verb;
2. tense and time word;
3. pronoun reference;
4. article/preposition;
5. comparison;
6. parallel structure;
7. word form and idiom.

Do not choose an option merely because it "sounds formal."

Sentence correction

Choose the option that is:

1. grammatically correct;
2. logically clear;
3. concise without losing meaning;
4. parallel in lists and comparisons.

Example of parallelism:

Wrong: "She likes reading, to swim and dancing."

Correct: "She likes reading, swimming and dancing."

Reading comprehension

1. Read the first and last sentence of the passage carefully.
2. Identify the author's purpose: explain, argue, compare, criticise or narrate.
3. Answer only from the passage; avoid personal knowledge.
4. For an inference, choose what must be true, not what could be true.
5. Return to the relevant sentence for factual questions.

Vocabulary under time pressure

Use roots and contrast:

• bene = good: benefit, benevolent;
• mal = bad: malfunction, malicious;
• anti = against;
• mono = one;
• chrono = time;
• geo = earth;
• aud = hear: audible, audience;
• dict = say: predict, contradict.

For an unknown word, eliminate options with opposite tone or impossible part of speech.

Commonly confused pairs

Pair	Difference
affect/effect	affect is usually a verb; effect is usually a noun
accept/except	receive/exclude
principle/principal	rule/main person
complement/compliment	complete/praise
stationary/stationery	not moving/writing materials
its/it's	possessive/it is
then/than	time/comparison

[[02_Aptitude/Aptitude_Drills|Aptitude drills]] · [[02_Aptitude/Aptitude_Overview|Aptitude overview]]