English Grammar —
Complete Study Guide

Grammar tests appear in university entrance exams, aptitude assessments, and professional selection processes. Whether you're sitting an NBT, a GRE verbal section, or a graduate job test, tour guide covers what matters most.

The 8 Parts of Speech — Quick Reference

• Noun: Names a person, place, thing, or idea. Types: proper (Nelson Mandela), common (city), abstract (freedom), collective (team)
• Pronoun: Replaces a noun (he, she, it, who, which, myself, this)
• Verb: Expresses action or state of being. Types: action, linking (is, seems, feels), auxiliary (have, will, must)
• Adjective: Modifies a noun or pronoun. Answers: what kind, how many, which one
• Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Answers: how, when, where, to what degree
• Preposition: Shows relationship between noun and other elements (in, on, at, by, with, for)
• Conjunction: Connects words, phrases, or clauses. FANBOYS = For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (coordinating)
• Interjection: Expresses strong emotion, grammatically independent (Wow! Ouch! Alas!)

Verb Tenses — The Most Tested Area

Six tenses cause most errors. Know when to use each:

• Present Simple: Habits, facts, general truths ("She works at a school")
• Present Continuous: Actions happening now or future arrangements ("She is leaving tomorrow")
• Present Perfect: Past action with present relevance ("Sthe team has already eaten") — never with specific past time (NOT "Sthe team has eaten yesterday")
• Past Simple: Completed action at a specific past time ("He visited Cape Town last year")
• Past Perfect: Action completed before another past action ("By the time she arrived, he had already left")
• Future Simple: Predictions and decisions made at the moment ("She will arrive tomorrow")

Active vs Passive Voice

Active: Subject performs the action ("The dog bit the man"). Passive: Subject receives the action ("The man was bitten by the dog"). To form passive: be + past participle. Use passive when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or when the action matters more than who did it.

The Most Common Grammar Errors — and How to Avoid Them

• Its vs It's: It's = it is. Its = possessive (no apostrophe). Test: substitute "it is" — if it works, use "it's"
• Your vs You're: Your = possessive. You're = you are. Test: substitute "you are"
• Their / There / They're: Their = possessive. There = place. They're = they are
• Affect vs Effect: Affect = verb (to influence). Effect = noun (result). RAVEN: Remember Affect = Verb, Effect = Noun
• Fewer vs Less: Fewer = countable nouns. Less = uncountable. "Fewer students, less time"
• Who vs Whom: Who = subject. Whom = object. Test: substitute he/she (who) or him/her (whom)
• Comma splice: Two independent clauses joined by a comma only — error. Fix: add a conjunction, use a semicolon, or make two sentences
• Apostrophe for plurals: Never. Cats not cat's (unless possessive: the cat's tail)

Sentence Types

• Simple: One independent clause ("She ran")
• Compound: Two independent clauses + FANBOYS ("She ran, but he walked")
• Complex: One independent + one dependent clause ("Although she was tired, she finished")
• Compound-complex: Two independent + at least one dependent clause

Punctuation Rules That Always Appear on Tests

• Semicolon: Connects two closely related independent clauses ("She studied hard; she passed")
• Colon: Introduces a list or explanation — must follow a complete clause
• Oxford comma: Comma before the final item in a list to prevent ambiguity ("apples, oranges, and grapes")
• Em dash: Creates emphasis or interruption — stronger than a comma, weaker than a period
• Apostrophe for possession: Singular: cat's. Plural ending in s: cats'. Irregular plural: children's

The grammar areas tested most frequently

In South African university entrance assessments (NBT), aptitude tests, and professional assessments, the grammar areas that appear most often are: subject-verb agreement (particularly with collective nouns and compound subjects), tense consistency within a passage, correct use of pronouns (who vs whom, whoever vs whomever), apostrophe use (possessives vs contractions), parallel structure in lists, and dangling or misplaced modifiers. These five areas cover the majority of English grammar questions in any South African test context.

The apostrophe problem

The apostrophe is the most commonly misused punctuation mark in English. There are only two uses: to mark possession (John's book, the company's policy) and to mark a contraction where a letter has been omitted (it's = it is, don't = do not, they're = they are). The word 'its' without an apostrophe is a possessive pronoun — it never takes an apostrophe. The word 'it's' with an apostrophe always means 'it is'. If you cannot replace the apostrophe form with the full words, the apostrophe is wrong.

Reading comprehension: what the marks are really for

Reading comprehension questions in South African assessments are looking for two things: evidence that you have read the text carefully, and evidence that you can express ideas in your own words. Lifting sentences directly from the passage rarely earns full marks — paraphrasing and showing that you understand the idea earns more. For inference questions (where the answer is not stated directly), explain your reasoning by linking evidence from the text to your conclusion.

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