12 English Grammar Rules That Keep Appearing in Recruitment Tests

English grammar questions in recruitment tests are not random. A handful of rules account for a large share of them, mostly because they are where Urdu-speaking learners naturally make mistakes. Learn these twelve and you will recognize many questions instantly.

1. Since vs for

• Since + a point in time: since 2015, since Monday, since morning
• For + a length of time: for ten years, for two hours

She has worked here since 2019. / She has worked here for six years.

2. A vs an depends on sound, not spelling

• An honest man (the h is silent, so it starts with a vowel sound)
• A university (it starts with a “yoo” sound)
• An MBA (pronounced “em”)

3. “The” with unique things

Use the with things there is only one of: the sun, the moon, the earth, the Quran.

4. Each, every, either and neither are singular

Each of the students has a card. / Neither of the answers is correct.

5. “One of” + plural noun + singular verb

One of my friends is a doctor. The noun is plural (friends), but the verb agrees with one.

6. Some nouns look plural but are singular

The news is good. / Mathematics is my favourite subject. / Physics is difficult.

7. Comparatives that take “to”, not “than”

Senior to, junior to, superior to, inferior to, prior to, prefer … to

He is senior to me. / I prefer tea to coffee.

8. Prepositions that belong to certain words

These are fixed pairs. They do not follow a rule, so they must be learned:

Correct	Common mistake
good at	good in
fond of	fond for
accused of	accused for
charged with	charged of
insist on	insist for
prevent from	prevent to
died of (a disease)	died from cholera (less standard)

9. After “did”, use the base verb

He did not come. (Not did not came.) The same applies after does and do: She does not know.

10. Unreal conditions use “were”

If I were you, I would apply. / If he were rich, he would travel. In formal English, were is used for all subjects in imaginary situations.

11. Past perfect for the earlier of two past actions

The train had left before we reached the station. The earlier action (the train leaving) takes had + past participle.

12. Passive voice keeps the original tense

Active	Passive
They built the bridge.	The bridge was built.
They are building the bridge.	The bridge is being built.
They have built the bridge.	The bridge has been built.

How to practise

Reading rules is only half the job. The other half is training your ear. For each rule above, write two sentences of your own: one correct, one incorrect. Then answer timed MCQs so that the correct option starts to “sound right” automatically.

Start with our Grammar: Tenses, Articles and Prepositions set. Every answer comes with a short explanation of the rule behind it.