MORE TIPS FOR YOUR EBAU EXAM

Make sure you don't make these mistakes!

1- WORD ORDER: English language follows a basic word order pattern:

subject + ( frequency adverb ) + verb + indirect object + direct object + manner + place + time adverbials

2- SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT:   “People are friendly”

3- ADJECTIVES: Adjectives come before nouns and don’t change form:

“She has two big cars”.

When several adjectives come before a noun, they usually have to be put in a particular order: 

age / size / temperature / shape / colour / origin / material / purpose + NOUN

“a large antique brown and white German beer mug”

4- USE OF THE SUBJECT: English sentences always need a subject.

“Look, it’s raining”.

If the subject is a verb, we use an –ING form.

“Jogging is good for you”.

5- COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS: Uncountable nouns take a singular verb in English.

“Your homework is great”.

The following nouns are uncountable in English:  accommodation, advice, baggage, behaviour, equipment, fun, furniture, homework, housework, information, litter, luck, luggage, news, progress, rubbish, traffic, trouble, weather, work.

6- CORRECT USE OF ARTICLES: When we are talking in general, we don’t use articles in English:

“The most important thing is happiness”.

A / AN is used with singular nouns, with plural or uncountable nouns we use SOME.

7- VERB FORMS: You have to be careful with the correct use of the present simple and present perfect tenses:

“We have lived here for 5 years”.

8- MUCH / MANY / A LOT OF: MUCH is used in questions and negative sentences with uncountable nouns, MANY with countable nouns, and A LOT OF can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns in affirmative sentences.

“How much money have you got?”

“We haven’t got many matches”.

“A lot of my friends like football”.

9- OTHER / OTHERS / ANOTHER: When OTHER is used as an adjective, it has no plural form. OTHERS is only used as a pronoun:

“Where are the other photos?”

“Some metals are magnetic and others aren’t”.

ANOTHER can be used in the sense of ‘an extra’:

“Can I have another pint, please?”

10- EVERY- : Compounds of EVERY are used with singular nouns and verbs:

“I go to the beach every summer”.

“Everybody is ready”.

11- PREPOSITIONS: If prepositions are followed by a verb, we use the –ING form:

“He is interested in learning astronomy”.

Prepositions after nouns, adverbs and adjectives are not always the same as in Spanish:

“He spends a lot of money on clothes”.

12- TO INFINITIVE: The infinitive with To is used to talk about people’s purposes, the reasons why they do things ( ‘para + infinitivo’  in Spanish ):

“He is studying to become a doctor”.

And another video with more tips for your essay. Although a bit long, it is worth watching and make notes of the things you find useful.

And sing along .....