Lexis is the word that fits the meaning and the company it keeps. Structure is agreement, tense and the shape of the sentence.
The idea
A word can be right in the dictionary and wrong in the sentence. Register matters. You do not tell a headteacher that a decision is "kinda unfair" in a formal letter, and you do not tell a friend that you "wish to inform" them of a joke. Idioms mean something other than their parts. Collocation is the partnership words prefer: you make a decision, you do not do a decision. Read the whole sentence, including the preposition after the gap.
Structure items punish a verb that does not match its subject, a tense that drifts, and a pronoun with no clear noun. "The committee have" may be accepted in some dialects when the committee is thought of as people. In this paper, treat a committee, the news, and mathematics as singular unless the sentence clearly makes the members the subject. When two options are both grammatical, the finer item is usually idiom or register, not a rule you can chant.
The English tips guide sets out lexis and structure beside the rest of the English paper. WASSCE English tips
What earns the marks
Give the word, not a paragraph about the word, unless the question asks for a reason. Spelling counts. An idiom explained literally scores nothing. For a rewrite, change only what the instruction names. Improving the writer's style when you were asked to change the tense introduces errors and loses the mark.
Practice questions
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
1Question 1
3 marks
Choose the best completion.
(a) The committee _____ its report yesterday. (submit / submits / submitted / submitting)
(b) She insisted _____ paying her share. (on / to / for / at)
(c) I look forward _____ from you. (to hear / to hearing / hearing / hear)
(3 marks)
Model answer
(a) submitted
(b) on
(c) to hearing
Mark scheme
submitted. The committee is singular here, and yesterday needs the past1 mark
on. The pattern is insist on1 mark
to hearing. Look forward to is followed by the ing form1 mark
2Question 2
2 marks
Explain the meaning of "Kofi let the cat out of the bag" as an idiom. (2 marks)
Model answer
Kofi revealed a secret. It does not mean he released an animal.
Mark scheme
He revealed a secret or spoiled a surprise2 marks
3Question 3
2 marks
Rewrite in the passive, keeping the tense: "The students planted the trees." (2 marks)
Model answer
The trees were planted by the students.
Mark scheme
The trees become the subject1 mark
were planted, past passive, with the agent correct1 mark
Practise English Language with Anna
More questions on this topic are inside GLearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
It is the kind of English a situation expects. A formal letter to a ministry and a note to a classmate do not use the same words. A lexis item often fails because the word is the right meaning and the wrong register.
What follows "look forward to"?+
The ing form of the verb, or a noun. "I look forward to hearing from you" is the pattern. "I look forward to hear" is the error the objective paper sets. All WASSCE English Language past questions