Duolingo English Test (DET) English Language Foundations Syllabus

English Language Foundations syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for English Language Foundations in Duolingo English Test (DET), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Core Grammar

   4 topics

   • Verb tenses and aspect
     • Present, past, and future forms
     • Perfect and continuous aspects
   • Sentence structure
     • Clauses and conjunctions
     • Relative and conditional clauses
   • Articles, prepositions, and determiners
   • Agreement and word order
2. 2

   Vocabulary Development

   4 topics

   • High-frequency academic word list
   • Collocations and phrasal verbs
   • Synonyms, antonyms, and register
   • Word formation and affixes
3. 3

   Spelling and Mechanics

   3 topics

   • Common spelling patterns and exceptions
   • Punctuation and capitalization
   • Commonly confused words (homophones)
4. 4

   Pronunciation Foundations

   3 topics

   • English phoneme inventory
     • Vowel sounds and diphthongs
     • Consonant sounds and clusters
   • Word stress patterns
   • Sentence stress and intonation

English Language Foundations flashcards for Duolingo English Test (DET)

21 of 50 cards from the English Language Foundations deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the four aspects of English verb tenses?

   Simple, Progressive (continuous), Perfect, and Perfect Progressive. Each combines with past, present, or future time to form the tense.

2. How is the present perfect formed, and what does it express?

   have/has + past participle (e.g., 'has eaten'). It links a past action to the present: completed actions with present relevance or experiences up to now.

3. What is the difference between the past simple and the present perfect?

   Past simple states a finished action at a definite past time ('I saw it yesterday'); present perfect connects an indefinite past action to now ('I have seen it').

4. When is the past perfect used?

   To show an action completed before another past action: had + past participle (e.g., 'She had left before I arrived').

5. How do you form the future continuous and what does it express?

   will be + present participle (-ing), e.g., 'will be working'. It describes an action in progress at a specific future time.

6. What is the basic word order of a simple English declarative sentence?

   Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), e.g., 'The student reads books.'

7. What is the difference between an independent and a dependent clause?

   An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone; a dependent (subordinate) clause cannot stand alone and begins with a subordinator (e.g., 'because', 'although').

8. What defines a compound sentence?

   Two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) or a semicolon, e.g., 'I studied, and I passed.'

9. What defines a complex sentence?

   One independent clause plus at least one dependent clause, e.g., 'Although it rained, we went out.'

10. What are the seven coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)?

    For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

11. When do you use the indefinite articles 'a' versus 'an'?

    Use 'a' before a consonant sound and 'an' before a vowel sound — based on sound, not spelling (e.g., 'a university', 'an hour').

12. When is the definite article 'the' used?

    With specific or previously mentioned nouns, unique things, and superlatives (e.g., 'the sun', 'the best'). It signals the listener can identify the referent.

13. What are determiners, and name three types?

    Words that introduce and specify nouns. Types include articles (a, the), demonstratives (this, those), quantifiers (some, many), and possessives (my, their).

14. Which prepositions of time go with points, days, and months/years?

    'at' for clock times (at 5pm), 'on' for days/dates (on Monday), 'in' for months, years, and longer periods (in July, in 2026).

15. What is the subject–verb agreement rule for a singular third-person subject in the present simple?

    Add -s/-es to the verb (e.g., 'She walks', 'He watches').

16. Does the verb agree with the subject closest to it in 'either...or' / 'neither...nor' constructions?

    Yes — the verb agrees with the nearer subject: 'Neither the teacher nor the students are ready.'

17. What is the typical adjective order before a noun in English?

    Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, Purpose (e.g., 'a lovely small old round brown French wooden writing desk').

18. In English, where do most adjectives go relative to the noun they modify?

    Before the noun (attributive position), e.g., 'a red car', unlike many languages that place them after.

19. What is the Academic Word List (AWL)?

    A list of 570 high-frequency word families common across academic texts (e.g., 'analyze', 'concept', 'significant') but not in the most common general vocabulary.

20. Give the noun, verb, and adjective forms of the academic root 'analy-'.

    Noun: analysis; verb: analyze; adjective: analytical.

21. What is a collocation? Give an example.

    A pair or group of words that habitually occur together, e.g., 'make a decision' (not 'do a decision') or 'heavy rain' (not 'strong rain').

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