Military Nursing Service (MNS) Entrance English Syllabus

What is the rule of subject-verb agreement?

A verb must agree with its subject in number and person: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Correct the error: 'Each of the students have a book.'

'Each of the students has a book.' ('Each' is singular and takes a singular verb.)

Correct the error: 'He is more taller than me.'

'He is taller than I (am).' Avoid double comparatives; 'more' is not used with '-er' forms.

What is a dangling modifier, with an example?

A modifier that has no clear word to modify. Example: 'Walking down the street, the trees were beautiful' (the trees were not walking). Corrected: 'Walking down the street, I saw beautiful trees.'

Correct the error: 'One of my friend is a doctor.'

'One of my friends is a doctor.' ('One of' is followed by a plural noun; the verb stays singular agreeing with 'one'.)

When are the articles 'a' and 'an' used?

'A' is used before words beginning with a consonant sound (a book, a university); 'an' before words beginning with a vowel sound (an apple, an hour).

Correct the error: '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 the past to now.)

What is the difference between a synonym and an antonym?

A synonym is a word with a similar meaning to another (happy/joyful); an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning (happy/sad).

What is the difference between a homophone and a homonym?

Homophones sound the same but differ in spelling and meaning (their/there). Homonyms share spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings (bank = riverbank/financial bank).

What is the meaning of the word 'ubiquitous'?

Present, appearing, or found everywhere; omnipresent.

What is the difference between 'stationary' and 'stationery'?

'Stationary' means not moving (an adjective); 'stationery' means writing materials such as paper and pens (a noun).

What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'?

'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence; 'effect' is usually a noun meaning a result (or a verb meaning to bring about).

What does the idiom 'a blessing in disguise' mean?

A good thing that initially seemed bad or unfortunate.

What does the idiom 'bite the bullet' mean?

To force oneself to endure or do something difficult or unpleasant.

What does the idiom 'once in a blue moon' mean?

Very rarely; almost never.

What does the idiom 'to let the cat out of the bag' mean?

To reveal a secret, often accidentally.

What does the idiom 'to burn the midnight oil' mean?

To work or study late into the night.

What does the idiom 'to add fuel to the fire' mean?

To make a bad situation worse, often by words or actions that increase anger or tension.

What is the difference between a prefix and a suffix?

A prefix is added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning (un-happy); a suffix is added to the end, often changing the part of speech (happi-ness).

What is the noun form of the verb 'decide', and the adjective form of 'beauty'?

Noun of 'decide' = decision; adjective of 'beauty' = beautiful.

What does the prefix 'mis-' mean, with an example?

It means wrongly or badly (e.g., misunderstand = to understand wrongly).

Form the abstract noun from the adjective 'wise' and the adjective from the noun 'danger'.

Abstract noun of 'wise' = wisdom; adjective of 'danger' = dangerous.

In reading comprehension, what is the 'main idea' of a passage?

The central point or most important message the author wants to convey; the overall point that the supporting details develop.

What is the difference between an inference and a directly stated fact in a comprehension passage?

A stated fact is written explicitly in the text; an inference is a conclusion the reader draws from clues and reasoning, not stated directly.

What strategy helps identify the meaning of an unknown word in a reading passage?

Using context clues — surrounding words, examples, definitions, or contrast within the sentence — to infer the word's meaning.

What is a cloze test in English exams?

A passage with blanks that must be filled with the most appropriate words, testing grammar, vocabulary, and contextual understanding.

In a fill-in-the-blanks question, what is the key strategy for choosing the correct word?

Read the full sentence/passage for context, check grammatical fit (tense, part of speech, agreement), and ensure the word matches the intended meaning and collocation.

What is sentence rearrangement (para jumbles)?

A task in which jumbled sentences must be reordered to form a coherent, logically connected paragraph.

What clues help solve a sentence rearrangement question?

Identify the opening sentence (introduces the topic), follow logical/chronological order, and use connecting words, pronoun references, and articles (a/the) to link sentences.

What is a collocation, with an example?

A pair or group of words that habitually go together and sound natural to native speakers (e.g., 'make a decision', 'heavy rain', 'strong coffee').