The Question and What It Contains
Q31(A) of the paper says only "Rewrite as directed" and gives four separate items, one mark each. The direction is printed in brackets under each item, and in 2025 the four directions were:
| Item | Direction | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| i | Use appropriate article | a / an / the, or no article |
| ii | Rearrange the segments into a meaningful sentence | word order |
| iii | Choose the verb that agrees with the subject | subject-verb agreement |
| iv | Fill in the blank with the appropriate form of the verb | tense and verb form |
There is an internal choice: you may answer Q31(A) or Q31(B), the linker question (chapter 19). Read both before deciding, and answer the one whose four items you are surest of.
[Exam Tip] — Each of the four items is marked on its own, so attempt all four even if one is doubtful. Copy the whole sentence, not just the missing word, unless the instruction is only to fill a blank.
Articles
"A" and "an" are used with a singular countable noun mentioned for the first time. The choice depends on the sound, not the letter.
- a before a consonant sound: a cycle, a well, a university (the sound is "yu"), a one-rupee coin (the sound is "wun").
- an before a vowel sound: an elder, an empty pot, an hour (the h is silent), an M.A. degree (the letter sounds "em").
"The" is used when the thing is already known, or one of a kind.
| Use the | Example |
|---|---|
| Something mentioned before | Roof took a bag. The bag held shillings. |
| Only one of its kind | the sun, the earth, the Prime Minister |
| Superlatives and ordinals | Mount Everest is the tallest peak. / the first woman to cycle |
| Rivers, seas, mountain ranges, groups of islands | the Ganga, the Arabian Sea, the Himalayas |
| Names with "of" | the Republic of India, the wheel of time |
| An adjective used as a noun | the poor, the rich |
| A whole class | The bicycle changed their lives. |
No article (zero article) with plural or uncountable nouns in a general sense, most proper nouns, meals, games, languages and abstract nouns. Water is precious. · Mount Everest is in Nepal. · She plays chess. · Courage is needed.
The 2025 item, solved
Mount Everest is __ tallest mountain peak in the world. (Use appropriate article) Answer: the — a superlative always takes the.
Watch out
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| He is a honest man. | He is an honest man. (silent h) |
| She is an university student. | She is a university student. (the "yu" sound) |
| The water is precious to all. | Water is precious to all. (general sense) |
| Everest is tallest peak. | Everest is the tallest peak. |
Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb agrees with the subject, not with the nearest noun.
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| One of + plural noun takes a singular verb | One of my friends is a dancer. |
| A phrase between subject and verb changes nothing | The leader of the campaign boys was Roof. |
| Each, every, either, neither, everyone, nobody, somebody take singular | Every woman wants to learn. · Neither of them was angry. |
| Two subjects joined by and take plural | Jameela and Fatima have trained others. |
| Two singular nouns meaning one thing take singular | Bread and butter is a simple meal. |
| With, along with, as well as, besides, in addition to do not add a subject | The collector, along with the activists, was present. |
| Or, nor, either…or, neither…nor — the verb follows the nearer subject | Neither the elders nor Roof was satisfied. |
| A number of takes plural; the number of takes singular | A number of women ride cycles. · The number of cyclists is rising. |
| Collective nouns take singular when acting as one body | The committee has decided. |
| Uncountables take singular | Water is not simply H2O. |
| Nouns plural in form but singular in sense | News is good. · Mathematics is easy. |
| Amounts of distance, time and money take singular | Ten kilometres is a long walk. · Rs.1,400 was too much for them. |
| There is / there are agrees with what follows | There were five elders in the room. |
| A relative pronoun takes the number of its antecedent | He is one of the men who work free of charge. |
The 2025 item, solved
One of my friends __ (is / are) a beautiful Bharathanatyam dancer. Answer: is — the subject is one, not friends.
Verb Forms
The bracket gives the base form; you supply the form the sentence needs. Look for a signal.
| Signal in the sentence | Form to use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A general or universal truth | simple present | God helps those who help themselves. |
| Habit: every day, usually, often | simple present | She hires a cycle every evening. |
| A finished past time: yesterday, in 1985, ago | simple past | Six dalits were killed in 1985. |
| now, at present, look! | present continuous | The women are training others now. |
| just, already, yet, so far, recently | present perfect | UNICEF has sanctioned fifty mopeds. |
| since / for with a present result | present perfect (continuous) | She has been cycling since 1992. |
| An earlier past action | past perfect | He had sworn on the iyi before he voted. |
| tomorrow, next year, soon | simple future | The results will be published soon. |
| After a modal (can, must, should, may) | base form | Water must be saved. |
| After to | base form | They wanted to learn cycling. |
| After did / does / do | base form | He did not tear the paper. |
| Condition: If + present, … will | present, then future | If you practise, you will score well. |
| Third person singular in the present | add -s / -es | Water knows everything. |
Points that cost marks
- A singular subject in the present needs the -s: God helps, not God help.
- After did, does, to and modals the verb has no ending: did not go, must go, to go.
- Keep the whole sentence in one time unless the sentence itself changes it.
- Irregular verbs: write - wrote - written, tear - tore - torn, give - gave - given, know - knew - known, teach - taught - taught.
The 2025 item, solved
God __ (help) those who help themselves. (Fill in the blank with the appropriate form of the verb given) Answer: helps — a universal truth in the simple present, with a singular subject.
Rearranging Jumbled Segments
You are given the words or phrases of one sentence in the wrong order. There is exactly one sensible arrangement.
A method
- Find the verb first. Every sentence has one.
- Ask who or what does it, and put that subject in front of the verb.
- Attach the rest: object, then the phrases with in, on, of, with, for.
- Check for a capital letter — that word usually begins the sentence — and put the full stop at the end.
- Read it aloud in your head. If it sounds like a sentence you have heard, it is probably right; many of these items are proverbs or lines from the lessons.
The 2025 item, solved
Love / Everything / and / fair / is / war / in Verb: is. Subject: Everything (it also carries the capital letter). Answer: Everything is fair in love and war.
More worked examples
| Segments | Sentence |
|---|---|
| a / way / there / where / is / will / is / there / a | Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| knows / the / everything / water | The water knows everything. |
| freedom / is / in / there / cycling | There is freedom in cycling. |
| the / powerful / ballot / paper / is / very | The ballot paper is very powerful. |
| never / books / will / disappear / I / that / believe | I believe that books will never disappear. |
The Exam Format Recap
| Item | Marks | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Article | 1 | the whole sentence, or the article if only a blank is asked |
| Rearranged sentence | 1 | the full sentence with a capital letter and a full stop |
| Agreement | 1 | the sentence with the chosen verb, or the verb alone |
| Verb form | 1 | the correct form, spelt fully |
[Exam Tip] — Marks here are the easiest in Part D, and they are lost to carelessness: a missing -s, a missing the, a sentence without a capital letter. Re-read your four answers before moving on.