English for Competitive Exams

2022-04-21 16:27:18

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While most Indian students are comfortable with the quantitative section of competitive exams such as CAT, GMAT, GRE, IELTS, etc, English for competitive exams remains a challenge for many. With equal weightage, if not more, to English for competitive exams as to Maths, it’s imperative to gain clarity about basic grammar rules, understand the skills it needs to crack the verbal section of competitive exams, and get extremely comfortable and confident with English for competitive exams.

This blog will help you gain clarity on the general English for competitive exams, best English books for preparation, golden rules of grammar, tips to improve your score in the verbal section of various competitive exams, and the types of questions asked!

Most competitive exams test the verbal skills of candidates with questions based on topics like Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Tenses, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Active and Passive Voice, Reporting Speech, Diction, etc. Knowledge of these topics will help you answer the questions on the verbal section of competitive exams

Basic Error Types in English for Competitive Exams

1. Subject-Verb Agreement
2. Parallelism
3. Verb Forms
4. Modifiers
5. Grammatical Construction
6. Diction
7. Logical Prediction
8. Idioms
9. Rhetorical Construction
10. Vocabulary

English Grammar Rules for Competitive Exams

Here is a list of a few must-know grammar rules to help you prepare for English for competitive exams and crack the verbal section of any competitive exam:

• When a Noun or Pronoun is placed before a gerund (ing-word), it must be in the possessive case. For example, I was pleased with Robert’s coming here. But the possessive case cannot be used with a gerund when the noun devotes a lifeless thing. For example, there is no danger of the wall (not wall’s) falling down.
• A Proper Noun becomes a common noun when it is used in plural form or when an article is placed before it. For example Five Gandhis, the Miltons, etc.
• A Collective Noun takes a Singular Verb when the whole group is considered as one unit. Example: The Committee consists of 5 members. But if we refer to the members of the community separately, the verb takes the plural form. Like, The community have taken their seats.
• While confessing a fault (or expressing a negative idea) the should be – first, second, and then third. However, when expressing praise or a positive idea, the sequence of personal pronouns is second, third, and then first.
• Few/Fewer/Many is used before Countable Nouns while Less/Lesser/Much is used before Uncountable Nouns.
• An Adverb should never be placed between ‘to‘ and the Verb.
• When the subjects joined by ‘either-or’, or ‘neither-nor are of different persons, the Verb will agree in person and number with the Noun nearest to it.
• If connectives like ‘with’, ‘together with’, ‘as well as’, ‘accompanied by‘, etc are used to combine two subjects, the verb agrees with the subject mentioned first.
• ‘That‘ in a sentence is used for crucial information while ‘which‘ is used for additional information.
• Generally ‘as‘ is followed by a Verb and ‘like‘ is followed by a Noun.
• ‘Like‘ is used to present similarity whereas ‘such as‘ is used to give examples.
• ‘Compared to‘ is used to draw a comparison between unlike things while ‘Compared with‘ is used to draw a comparison between like things.
• Advice is an Uncountable Noun. ‘Advices’ is wrong.

How to Improve General English for Competitive Exams?

Here are a few tips and tricks to improve English for competitive exams:

Read Newspapers Regularly

Importance of reading newspapers regularly not only adds to your knowledge but also helps you improve your vocabulary and broaden your horizons, provided you read it the right way.

• Firstly, time your reading for every major article, keep the stopwatch running. This simple act will make you faster and focused.
• Don’t miss the editorials. Editorial articles are big and rich and they should form the core of your reading practice.
• Use highlighters and pens to mark new words, difficult phrases, key ideas, etc that you come across while reading the newspaper.
• Write down everything you have learned (like new words, phrases, etc ) in a separate place and review it periodically.

Keep Revising Grammar Rules

With so many concepts and rules for the grammar you need to remember for English for competitive exams, it will be a good idea to revise the grammar rules on a daily or weekly basis.

• You can prepare flashcards and carry them with you while you are travelling and make sure you go through them whenever you get time.
• Make sure you use the vocabulary and grammar rules that you use in your writings; be it an assignment or a mere WhatsApp message.
• Take guidance from some of the best English Grammar books.

Prepare for the Reading Comprehension

Nailing the reading comprehension section of English for the competitive exam depends on your reading speed, efficient analysis, repeated practice and strong vocabulary. Here are a few tips to understand this section:

• Focus on the linking words like yet, however, on the other hand, but, in contrast, in conclusion, in addition, etc. This will allow you to establish a structure to the text.
• Never get too lost in the details and try to understand the whole passage. Instead, work from the questions back to the passage. Once you have read the question, you know exactly what you are looking for and this will help you fetch the answer easily.

Excel at Spotting Errors

While improving your English for competitive exams calls for going into the basics of grammar and honing the verbal ability skills, its also important to excel the ability to identify the errors quickly and reaching the correct answer effectively.

• Read the sentence completely and understand the meaning and structure of the sentence.
• Try to find the evidence for your answer, instead of choosing an answer just because you think it is correct.
• Remember that answer choices in passive voice are usually incorrect.
• Scan the answer choices for obvious differences and low hanging fruits – the first and last words of each answer choice, pronouns, and verbs.

Build a Strong Vocabulary

Having a strong vocabulary can always help you ace the English for competitive exams. You can use the following techniques:

• Learn at least one new word every day and use it in general conversations.
• Flashcard can be the best way to memorise words easily.
• Make use of smartphone apps like U-Dictionary, Vocab24, English Grammar Ultimate, Duolingo, English Grammar Handbook, etc. to learn on the go.