5.1 Grammar and Usage
Key Takeaways
- On USTET English items, the verb agrees with the true subject, not with a noun inside an intervening phrase such as of the applicants or together with her classmates
- Indefinite pronouns like each, everyone, either, and neither are singular; both, few, many, and several are plural
- Use past perfect (had + past participle) for the earlier of two past actions so the sequence of events stays clear
- A modifier must sit next to the word it describes; an introductory phrase must logically describe the subject that follows the comma
- Distinguish its/it's, their/there/they're, affect/effect, and fewer/less before choosing the answer on error-identification items
Why Grammar and Usage Matters on the USTET
The University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test (USTET) English / Language Proficiency subtest carries about 25% of the exam, equal in weight to Mental Ability, Mathematics, and Science. Within English, grammar and usage items are among the most predictable: they recycle a compact set of rules rather than testing obscure literary trivia. If you can apply those rules under time pressure, you free minutes for reading comprehension and oral-communication items that require more reading.
UST OFAD materials describe college USTET preparation against a Grade 11 baseline — Oral Communication plus Reading and Writing. That means the exam expects clean academic English of the kind you use in senior high essays, not conversational Taglish. Grammar items typically appear as:
- Error identification — a sentence has underlined or lettered parts; you pick the faulty part (or "No error").
- Sentence correction / best version — you choose which of four options is grammatically correct.
- Fill-in-the-blank — you supply the verb, pronoun, preposition, or word pair that completes the sentence.
Work every practice item by naming the rule first ("intervening phrase," "dangling modifier," "pronoun case"). Naming the rule is faster than rereading the whole sentence four times.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Core rule: the verb agrees with its true subject in number. Singular subject → singular verb; plural subject → plural verb. USTET writers hide the subject inside long academic sentences so that a nearby plural noun steals your attention.
Trap 1: Intervening Phrases
Phrases beginning with of, with, together with, along with, as well as, in addition to, and including do not change the subject's number.
- The list of qualified applicants is posted outside the Office for Admissions. (subject = list)
- Ana, together with her batchmates, was invited to the UST campus tour. (subject = Ana)
- The research papers, as well as the abstract, are due before the midterm. (subject = papers)
Cover the intervening phrase with your finger and reread. The correct verb usually becomes obvious.
Trap 2: Indefinite Pronouns
| Always singular | Always plural | Depends on the object of of |
|---|---|---|
| each, every, everyone, everybody, everything | both, few, many, several | some, most, all, none, any |
| someone, somebody, something | ||
| anyone, anybody, anything | ||
| either, neither, no one, nobody |
- Each of the examinees has an admission slip. (not have)
- Neither of the schedules is available on Sunday.
- Some of the data is incomplete. but Some of the students are absent. (data treated as a mass/singular unit here; students is plural)
Trap 3: Inverted Order and There/Here
When a sentence begins with there or here, the subject follows the verb.
- There are three reasons why Miguel chose Accountancy.
- Here is the roster of passers from last year's USTET cycle.
Collective nouns (team, class, committee, faculty, family) are usually treated as singular on Philippine entrance exams when the group acts as one unit: The review class is meeting in the España campus library.
Verb Tense and Sequence
Match tense to time. For two past actions, use past perfect (had + past participle) for the earlier action and simple past for the later one.
- By the time the proctor distributed the answer sheets, Carla had already reviewed her notes.
- After the applicants had submitted their forms, the guard closed the gate.
Do not shift tenses without a reason. Wrong: Yesterday she reviews the syllabus and then took a practice test. Right: Yesterday she reviewed the syllabus and then took a practice test.
Present perfect (has/have + past participle) links a past action to the present: UST has required the USTET for college admission for many cycles. Simple past is for a finished time: She took the USTET last January.
Pronoun Case and Reference
Use subjective case (I, he, she, we, they, who) for subjects; objective case (me, him, her, us, them, whom) for objects; possessive (my/mine, his, her/hers, our/ours, their/theirs, whose) for ownership.
- Between you and me, the Math subtest felt longer than Science. (object of preposition between)
- She and I enrolled in the same review center in Sampaloc. (compound subject)
- The counselor advised him and her to retake the diagnostic quiz.
A pronoun must point clearly to one antecedent. Vague: When Lucia texted Mara, she was already late. Clear: When Lucia texted Mara, Mara was already late. Or restructure: Lucia texted Mara, who was already late.
Agreement still applies: Everyone submitted his or her form (formal) or Everyone submitted their form (increasingly accepted in modern academic English, but many local tests still prefer singular consistency with his or her or a rewrite to All students submitted their forms).
Modifiers and Parallel Structure
A misplaced modifier sits too far from the word it describes: The student almost answered every Mental Ability item (she answered nearly all) versus The student answered almost every Mental Ability item (same idea, clearer). A dangling modifier has nothing logical to modify: Wrong — Walking to the España gate, the rain soaked Paolo's bag. Right — Walking to the España gate, Paolo felt the rain soak his bag.
Parallel structure requires matching grammatical forms in a list or comparison.
- Parallel: The orientation covered registering, paying the fee, and choosing a program.
- Not parallel: The orientation covered registration, to pay the fee, and how you choose a program.
Comparisons with than or as must compare like things: Carla's score is higher than Miguel's (score), not higher than Miguel unless you mean you are ranking people, not scores.
Articles, Prepositions, and Confused Pairs
Use a before consonant sounds (a university — /ju/), an before vowel sounds (an honest answer — silent h). The marks something specific or already known: the Office for Admissions, the España campus.
High-yield confused pairs on entrance exams:
| Pair | Quick rule | Academic example |
|---|---|---|
| its / it's | its = possessive; it's = it is / it has | The college updated its handbook. / It's raining on campus. |
| their / there / they're | possession / place / they are | They're waiting there with their IDs. |
| affect / effect | affect usually verb; effect usually noun | Stress can affect focus. / The effect was lower accuracy. |
| fewer / less | fewer = countable; less = mass | Fewer errors; less time wasted. |
| among / between | among = 3+; between = typically 2 | Choose among four options; decide between two programs. |
| who / whom | subject vs object | Who applied? / To whom was the letter sent? |
Preposition traps: interested in, depend on, different from, capable of, afraid of, congratulate on. Memorize these as fixed chunks rather than translating from Filipino word-for-word.
Exam Strategy for Grammar Items
- Find the subject and verb first on agreement items.
- Check tense markers (yesterday, by the time, since, already).
- Mentally delete intervening phrases.
- Read the sentence aloud in your head — dangling modifiers often "sound wrong" once you hear them.
- On "No error" options, still verify every underlined part; do not pick "No error" out of fatigue.
Mastering these rules will not only raise your English subtest score; it will also make your Reading and Writing coursework — and later UST academic papers — cleaner and faster to produce.
The folder of recommendation letters that the counselor prepared for the USTET applicants ______ on the desk near the España gate.
Which sentence uses verb tense correctly for two past actions?
Which sentence avoids a dangling modifier?
"Each of the honor graduates from the public high schools ______ eligible to request a USTET fee waiver under the stated guidelines." Which verb correctly completes the sentence?