COMSATS Admission Test English Syllabus

How is the present perfect tense formed and used?

has/have + past participle; used for actions completed at an unspecified past time or continuing up to now (e.g., 'I have finished').

How is the simple past tense used?

For completed actions at a definite time in the past (e.g., 'They arrived yesterday').

How is the past continuous tense formed and used?

was/were + verb-ing; used for an ongoing action in the past, often interrupted (e.g., 'I was sleeping when he called').

How is the past perfect tense formed and used?

had + past participle; used for an action completed before another past action (e.g., 'She had left before I arrived').

How is the simple future tense formed?

will/shall + base verb (e.g., 'I will go tomorrow').

How is the future perfect tense formed and used?

will have + past participle; used for an action that will be completed before a specific future time (e.g., 'By 2027 I will have graduated').

What is the basic rule of subject-verb agreement?

A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb (e.g., 'He runs' / 'They run').

In the present tense, when do you add '-s/-es' to the verb?

With third-person singular subjects (he, she, it, or a singular noun): 'She writes', 'The dog barks'.

When two subjects are joined by 'and', is the verb singular or plural?

Plural (e.g., 'Tom and Jerry are friends'), unless the two form a single unit (e.g., 'Bread and butter is my breakfast').

With subjects joined by 'or' or 'nor', what determines the verb form?

The verb agrees with the subject nearest to it (e.g., 'Neither the teacher nor the students were present').

What verb form do indefinite pronouns like 'everyone', 'each', and 'nobody' take?

Singular (e.g., 'Everyone is here', 'Each of the boys was tired').

Does the verb agree with the subject or with words in an intervening phrase? Example?

With the subject, not the intervening phrase (e.g., 'The box of chocolates IS on the table').

What is a preposition of time? Give examples for 'in', 'on', and 'at'.

Shows when something happens: 'at' for clock times (at 5 p.m.), 'on' for days/dates (on Monday), 'in' for months/years/long periods (in July, in 2026).

Which prepositions of place correspond to 'in', 'on', and 'at'?

'in' for enclosed spaces (in the room), 'on' for surfaces (on the table), 'at' for specific points (at the door).

Which preposition typically follows 'depend', 'rely', and 'insist'?

'on' for 'depend on' and 'rely on'; 'on' for 'insist on'.

Which preposition follows 'good', 'bad', and 'expert' when describing skill?

'at' (e.g., 'good at math', 'expert at chess').

What are the three articles in English, and how are they classified?

'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles; 'the' is the definite article.

When do you use 'a' versus 'an'?

Use 'a' before a consonant sound and 'an' before a vowel sound (e.g., 'a university' /yu/, 'an hour' /silent h/).

When is the definite article 'the' used?

For a specific or previously mentioned noun, unique things, superlatives, and certain proper nouns (e.g., 'the sun', 'the best', 'the Indus').

What is a determiner? Give three categories.

A word placed before a noun to clarify it. Categories include articles (a, the), demonstratives (this, those), and quantifiers (some, many, few).

What is the difference between 'few' and 'a few'?

'few' has a negative sense (almost none); 'a few' has a positive sense (some, a small number).

When do you use 'much' versus 'many'?

'much' with uncountable nouns (much water); 'many' with countable nouns (many books).

In single-blank completion questions, what is the main strategy?

Read the whole sentence for context clues, predict a word that fits the logic and tone, then match it to the closest option.

What role do signal words like 'because', 'although', and 'therefore' play in completion questions?

They signal logical relationships (cause, contrast, result) that tell you whether the blank needs a similar or opposite idea.

In a single-blank sentence, what does the contrast word 'but' tell you about the missing word?

It signals that the blank should contrast with or oppose an idea earlier in the sentence.

In double-blank completion questions, how should both blanks be treated?

Both blanks must fit together logically; an option is correct only if BOTH words make the full sentence coherent.

What is an efficient elimination tactic for double-blank questions?

Test one blank first to eliminate options where that word fails, then check the remaining options' second word.

What are contextual clues in reading?

Hints within surrounding text (definitions, examples, synonyms, antonyms, or tone) that help you infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

What is a 'definition/restatement' contextual clue?

When the sentence directly defines or restates the unfamiliar word, often after a comma, dash, or 'that is' (e.g., 'arid, meaning very dry').

What is a 'contrast' contextual clue, and which words signal it?

A clue where an opposite idea reveals the word's meaning, signaled by 'but', 'however', 'unlike', 'although', or 'whereas'.