Use of English Grammar
The structural rules of English: tense sequence, conditionals, relative pronouns, question tags, reported speech, modifiers, parallelism, punctuation and spelling. Master these and the Lexis & Structure section becomes a checklist rather than a guess.
The rule: When the principal verb of a sentence is in the past tense, subordinate clauses must also be in past tense (except for eternal truths).
Why: Past tense anchors the entire timeline of the sentence.
He said that he was (not is) hungry.
The rule: Universal scientific facts or eternal truths remain in present tense even when reported by a past tense verb.
Why: Universal truths are timeless and remain valid regardless of reporting time.
The teacher explained that the earth revolves (not revolved) round the sun.
The rule: When two actions occurred in the past, the earlier action takes Past Perfect (had + V3), and the later action takes Simple Past.
Why: Past Perfect establishes priority order between two completed past moments.
When we arrived at the stadium, the match had started (not started).
The rule: If-clause in Simple Present + Main clause in Simple Future (will + verb).
Why: Real possibility in present or future.
If he studies hard, he will pass the exam.
The rule: If-clause in Simple Past / Past Subjunctive + Main clause in Conditional (would + verb).
Why: Hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation in the present.
If I had enough money, I would buy a car.
The rule: If-clause in Past Perfect (had + V3) + Main clause in Perfect Conditional (would have + V3).
Why: Unfulfilled condition in past time that can no longer be changed.
If he had studied, he would have passed the test.
The rule: Conditional clauses can omit 'If' by inverting the auxiliary verb to the front (Had he known..., Were I you...).
Why: Formal literary inversion replaces the conditional conjunction.
Had I known (If I had known), I would not have gone there.
The rule: 'Who' functions as subject (he/she/they); 'Whom' functions as object (him/her/them) of a verb or preposition.
Why: Substitute 'he/him' to test: if 'he' fits, use 'Who'; if 'him' fits, use 'Whom'.
The man whom (him) we met yesterday is a doctor.
The rule: 'Which' introduces non-restrictive clauses (extra info, preceded by comma); 'That' introduces restrictive clauses (essential info, no comma).
Why: Restrictive clauses define the noun; non-restrictive clauses add optional commentary.
The car that broke down is mine. My car, which is red, broke down.
The rule: A positive statement takes a negative tag; a negative statement takes a positive tag.
Why: Question tags seek confirmation by reversing the polarity of the main statement.
You are coming, aren't you? You aren't coming, are you?
The rule: The negative question tag for 'I am' is 'aren't I?' (not 'amn't I?').
Why: Standard British English uses 'aren't I' as the grammatical tag for first-person singular present continuous.
I am right, aren't I?
The rule: Imperative statements take 'will you?' or 'would you?' as their question tag.
Why: Imperatives express commands or requests; the tag asks about willingness.
Close the door, will you?
The rule: Statements containing negative words (hardly, barely, seldom, never, scarcely, nobody) take positive tags.
Why: Negative adverbs make the entire main statement negative in meaning, requiring a positive tag.
She seldom visits us, does she (not doesn't she)?
The rule: 'Needn't + bare infinitive' indicates absence of necessity at present; 'Needn't have + V3' means an action was performed unnecessarily.
Why: 'Needn't have' implies the action took place; 'didn't need to' means it was unnecessary so it wasn't done.
You needn't have brought an umbrella (you brought it, but it didn't rain).
The rule: 'Used to + bare infinitive' indicates past habitual action; 'Be used to + gerund/noun' indicates familiarity/accustomedness.
Why: Structure dictates meaning: 'used to work' (past habit) vs. 'is used to working' (accustomed).
He used to wake up early (past habit). He is used to waking up early (accustomed).
The rule: Verbs like make, let, see, hear, watch take a bare infinitive (without 'to') in the active voice.
Why: Causative and perception verbs connect directly to the root infinitive.
She made him do (not to do) the work.
The rule: In active voice, 'make' takes a bare infinitive; in passive voice, 'make' MUST take a full infinitive ('to + verb').
Why: Passive transformation restores the prepositional 'to' to mark the infinitive.
He was made to do (not do) the work.
The rule: A participial phrase at the start of a sentence must modify the subject that immediately follows the comma.
Why: Opening participial clauses modify the nearest subject. A mismatch creates logical absurdity.
Walking down the road, a snake bit him (Incorrect: the snake wasn't walking). Walking down the road, he was bitten by a snake (Correct).
The rule: Adverbs like only, almost, nearly, hardly must be placed immediately before the word they modify.
Why: Misplacing adverbs alters the core meaning of the sentence.
He only died yesterday (he did nothing else but die). He died only yesterday (it happened as recently as yesterday).
The rule: Items in a list, comparison, or coordinate structure must share the same grammatical form (all gerunds, all infinitives, or all nouns).
Why: Grammatical symmetry ensures clarity and rhetorical balance.
He likes swimming, dancing, and running (not to run).
The rule: Two negative words in the same clause cancel each other out, violating Standard British English rules.
Why: Words like hardly, scarcely, bare, nothing are already negative.
I couldn't find anything (not nothing) in the room.
The rule: Comparisons using comparative adjectives/adverbs take 'than' (not 'to' or 'from').
Why: 'Than' is the standard conjunction of comparison in English.
She is taller than (not to/from) her sister.
The rule: Latin-derived comparative adjectives ending in '-ior' (senior, junior, superior, inferior) and 'preferable' take 'to' (not 'than').
Why: Latin comparative morphology takes the preposition 'to'.
He is senior to (not than) me. Coffee is preferable to tea.
The rule: Use comparative (-er / more) when comparing exactly 2 items; use superlative (-est / most) for 3 or more.
Why: Degree rules strictly mirror the count of elements compared.
Of the two boys, John is the taller (not tallest). Of the three boys, John is the tallest.
The rule: Do not combine 'more/most' with '-er/-est' endings.
Why: Using two comparative markers creates redundant grammatical error.
He is taller (not more taller) than his brother.
The rule: A noun clause functions as a noun (subject of verb, object of verb, complement, or object of preposition).
Why: Substitute 'something/it' for the clause to identify its nominal role.
What he said (Subject) is true. I know what he said (Object).
The rule: An adjectival clause begins with a relative pronoun/adverb and sits immediately after the noun it modifies.
Why: Adjectival clauses perform adjectival duty by describing their antecedent noun.
The book which I bought is lost.
The rule: Adverbial clauses modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, expressing time, cause, condition, concession, manner, or purpose.
Why: Identify the subordinating conjunction (because, although, unless, so that) to determine the adverbial type.
Although it rained (Concession), we went out.
The rule: A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or).
Why: Semicolons bridge two full sentences that form a tight logical unit.
The exam was tough; however, many candidates passed.
The rule: A colon introduces an explanation, bulleted list, quotation, or amplification following a complete independent clause.
Why: The clause preceding a colon must be a grammatically complete sentence.
He has three priorities: passing UTME, securing admission, and excelling.
The rule: It's = It is (contraction); Its = belonging to it (possessive pronoun, no apostrophe).
Why: Possessive pronouns (its, whose, yours, hers) never take apostrophes.
The dog wagged its (not it's) tail because it's (it is) happy.
The rule: Use 'ie' for /i■/ sound (believe, relief), but 'ei' after 'c' (receive, ceiling, deceit).
Why: Phonetic spelling rule for high front vowel sounds.
You must receive the believer.
The rule: Double the final consonant of a single-syllable word ending in consonant-vowel-consonant when adding a vowel suffix (occur -> occurred, commit -> committed).
Why: Doubling preserves the short vowel sound preceding the suffix.
It occurred (not ocurred) during the meeting.
The rule: Commonly misspelled words in UTME: Accommodation, Embarrassment, Privilege, Maintenance, Separate, Harassment.
Why: Examiners test words with tricky double consonants or irregular vowel spellings.
Accommodation, embarrassment, privilege (memorize double letter patterns).
The rule: When converting direct to indirect speech, pronouns shift person, tenses backshift, and time/place adverbs adjust (now -> then, today -> that day).
Why: Deictic markers shift to align with the reporter's frame of reference.
'I will come today,' he said -> He said that he would come that day.
The rule: In indirect questions, auxiliary verbs return to statement order (subject + verb, no question mark).
Why: Indirect questions are embedded statements, not direct interrogatives.
He asked me where I lived (not where did I live).
The rule: Hyphenate two or more words acting as a single modifier BEFORE a noun (a well-known writer), but omit hyphen if placed after the noun (the writer is well known).
Why: Hyphens bind compound adjectives preceding the noun.
A first-class student vs. The student is first class.
The rule: Capitalize specific titles when preceding a name (President Tinubu), but lowercase general job titles (the president).
Why: Proper names require capital initials; generic titles do not.
We met President Tinubu, but he is a respected president.
The rule: Use 'prefer... to...' (not 'than' or 'over') when expressing preference between two items.
Why: Verb 'prefer' mandates the preposition 'to'.
I prefer rice to (not than/over) beans.
The rule: Accused of (not with), congratulate on (not for), immune to (not against), comply with (not to), superior to.
Why: Fixed prepositions are idiomatically non-negotiable in formal SBE.
He was accused of (not with) theft and congratulated on (not for) his release.
Use of English questions, revision notes and interactive widgets turn each rule into an exam reflex.
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