DU LLB Entrance English Language and Comprehension Syllabus

State the correct spelling: is it 'occured' or 'occurred'? Why?

'Occurred' — the final consonant is doubled before adding -ed because the stress falls on the last syllable of a word ending in a single vowel + single consonant.

What is the correct spelling: 'seperate' or 'separate'?

'Separate' (a-r-a-t-e); a common misspelling is 'seperate'.

What does the legal Latin phrase 'prima facie' mean?

'On the face of it' / at first sight; based on the first impression and accepted as correct until proved otherwise.

What does the legal term 'bona fide' mean?

In good faith; genuine, without fraud or deceit.

What does the legal phrase 'ultra vires' mean?

Beyond the powers; an act done beyond the legal authority or power granted.

What does 'mutatis mutandis' mean?

With the necessary changes having been made; applying something with appropriate modifications.

What does the phrase 'amicus curiae' mean?

'Friend of the court' — a person who is not a party to a case but assists the court by offering information or expertise.

List the eight parts of speech in English.

Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

A clause contains a subject and a finite verb; a phrase is a group of words that lacks a subject-verb combination and functions as a single unit.

What is the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb?

A transitive verb takes a direct object (She 'wrote' a letter); an intransitive verb does not take an object (He 'slept').

Name the three main types of sentences by structure.

Simple (one independent clause), compound (two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinator), and complex (one independent + at least one dependent clause).

How do you change active voice to passive voice? State the rule.

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject, the verb changes to the appropriate form of 'be' + past participle, and the original subject becomes the agent introduced by 'by'.

Convert to passive voice: 'They are building a house.'

'A house is being built (by them).'

In narration, how does 'this' / 'these' / 'now' change when converting direct speech to indirect (reported) speech?

'This' becomes 'that', 'these' becomes 'those', and 'now' becomes 'then'.

Convert to indirect speech: He said, 'I am tired.'

He said that he was tired.

State the rule for reporting an imperative (command/request) in indirect speech.

Use a reporting verb like ordered/asked/told/requested + object + the infinitive 'to' + verb (e.g., He told me to wait).

What are the three present tenses and one example of each (with 'go')?

Simple present (I go), present continuous (I am going), present perfect (I have gone) — present perfect continuous (I have been going) is a fourth aspect.

Give the structure of the future perfect tense and an example.

Subject + will have + past participle. Example: 'By next year, she will have finished her degree.'

When is the present perfect tense used rather than the simple past?

The present perfect is used for an action completed at an unspecified time or with a result relevant now; the simple past is used for an action completed at a definite past time.

State the basic rule for using the articles 'a' and 'an'.

Use 'a' before a word beginning with a consonant sound and 'an' before a word beginning with a vowel sound (judged by sound, not spelling: 'an hour', 'a university').

When is the definite article 'the' used?

Before a specific or already-mentioned noun, unique things (the sun), superlatives, rivers/seas/mountain ranges, and names of nations like 'the USA'.

Choose the correct preposition: 'He is good ___ mathematics.' State the rule.

'at' — 'good at' (skill/ability). Common fixed prepositions: good at, married to, afraid of, interested in.

What is the difference between coordinating and subordinating conjunctions? Give one example of each.

Coordinating conjunctions join elements of equal rank (and, but, or - mnemonic FANBOYS); subordinating conjunctions link a dependent clause to a main clause (because, although, since, if).

Identify the error: 'Each of the students have submitted their assignment.' Give the correction.

'Each of the students HAS submitted his/her assignment.' 'Each' is singular and takes a singular verb.

Identify the error: 'He is one of the best player in the team.' Give the correction.

'He is one of the best PLAYERS in the team.' After 'one of the' + superlative, the noun must be plural.

Correct the sentence: 'I am living here since 2010.'

'I have been living here since 2010.' Use the present perfect continuous with 'since' for an action continuing from a past point to now.

What is the typical logical order to follow when solving a sentence-rearrangement (para-jumbles) question?

Identify the opening sentence (introduces the topic, has no back-reference), find mandatory pairs (linked by pronouns/connectors), follow the chain of references and transition words, and place the concluding sentence last.

In fill-in-the-blanks, what are 'transition/contrast' signal words that indicate the blank needs a contrasting idea?

However, but, yet, although, nevertheless, on the contrary, whereas, despite, in spite of.

In sentence completion, what does a connector like 'therefore', 'thus', or 'consequently' signal about the relationship between clauses?

It signals a cause-and-effect / result relationship — the second clause is the consequence or conclusion of the first.

What is the difference between the connectors 'because' and 'so' in linking clauses?

'Because' introduces the cause/reason (effect because cause); 'so' introduces the result/effect (cause so result).