Grammar appears in two places on the LET: General Education English (~5–8 questions) and English Major Structure of English (~10–15 questions). For both Secondary English Majors and any examinee who took GenEd English, these are usually the easiest points to lose — and the easiest to recover with one focused study session.
Here are the five rules that show up most often, with sample LET-style questions and the trap each one sets.
1. Subject-verb agreement (with tricky subjects)
The rule: Verbs agree with their subject in number — singular subject, singular verb; plural subject, plural verb.
The trap: The LET buries the real subject under prepositional phrases or uses tricky subjects like "neither," "everyone," "the news," or collective nouns.
Sample question: The bouquet of yellow roses (lend / lends) colour to the dim room. → lends. The subject is "bouquet" (singular), not "roses." The phrase "of yellow roses" is just modifying it.
Watch for: "Each," "every," "neither," "either," "everyone," "anyone," "nobody" — all singular. "News," "mathematics," "physics" — singular. "The committee" — usually singular but can be plural depending on whether you mean it as a unit or as members.
2. Pronoun reference and agreement
The rule: Every pronoun must clearly refer to one specific noun, and must agree with it in number and gender.
The trap: Ambiguous antecedents and the "everyone... they" debate.
Sample question: When Maria gave Liza her notes, she was grateful. Who is "she"? Maria or Liza? Ambiguous. The LET will offer a rewrite that clarifies — that is the correct answer.
Watch for: Standard written English still treats "everyone," "anyone," "nobody" as singular, even though "they" is increasingly accepted in casual speech. On the LET, the safest answer is usually "he or she" / "his or her" — though some recent items accept singular "they." Check the answer key carefully.
3. Misplaced and dangling modifiers
The rule: A modifier (a word, phrase, or clause that describes something) should sit next to what it describes.
The trap: Sentences that technically make sense but describe the wrong thing.
Sample question: Walking down the street, the trees were beautiful. → Wrong. The trees were not walking. Correct: Walking down the street, I noticed how beautiful the trees were.
Watch for: Sentences that begin with an "-ing" phrase. The first noun after the comma is what the phrase modifies. If that noun cannot logically perform the action, the modifier is dangling.
4. Parallel structure
The rule: When you list things or compare things, they should be in the same grammatical form.
The trap: Mixing nouns with verbs, or mixing -ing forms with infinitives.
Sample question: The teacher asked the students to read the passage, take notes, and underlining key words. → Wrong. Should be: to read..., take..., and underline... (all base verbs).
Watch for: Lists of three or more items, "either... or" / "neither... nor" / "not only... but also" constructions. Whatever follows the first connector must match in form whatever follows the second.
5. Comma splices and run-ons
The rule: Two complete sentences cannot be joined with just a comma. You need either a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet).
The trap: Sentences that look fine because they flow naturally — but technically are two independent clauses joined by a comma.
Sample question: The students completed their project, the teacher praised their effort. → Comma splice. Fix with: a period, a semicolon, or "and."
Watch for: Long sentences with multiple clauses, transitional words like "however," "therefore," "moreover" — these need a semicolon or period, not just a comma. I studied hard, however I still failed. → Wrong. I studied hard; however, I still failed. → Correct.
Quick self-test before exam day
Try these. Answers below.
- Each of the students (have / has) submitted his project.
- Walking to school, my bag (got / was getting) wet.
- She likes reading novels, watching films, and (to travel / to travelling / travel / travelling).
- The committee (was / were) divided in their opinions.
- Maria told Ana that (she / Ana) had passed.
Answers: 1. has (each = singular). 2. Either is grammatical, but the dangling modifier issue is bigger — fix to "Walking to school, I got my bag wet" if rewriting. 3. travelling (parallel with reading, watching). 4. were (committee acting as members). 5. Ambiguous as written; rewrite as "Maria told Ana, 'Ana, you passed.'" or "Maria told Ana that Ana had passed."
If any of those felt shaky, drill them in our English Grammar topic page — 15+ reviewed LET-style grammar questions with full explanations.