Grammar Rules That Give You ~80% of Points

Rule	Use For	Exam Pattern
1. Word form (noun/verb/adj/adv)	Fill in the blanks	"The ____ (economy / economic / economically) growth"
2. Collocations (words that go together)	Fill in the blanks	"_____ attention (pay / give / make)"
3. Connectors & reference words	Re-order paragraphs	"However... This... They..."

RULE 1: Word Form (Most Tested)

The Pattern:

Look at the word before and word after the blank.

Before Blank →	Blank Needs	Example
a / an / the	Noun	a student
very / quite / so	Adjective	very beautiful
to (infinitive)	Verb (base)	to run
a / an + _____ + noun	Adjective	an important decision
the _____ of	Noun	the meaning of

🔥 Practice Questions (like real PTE)

Q1:

The government announced a new ______ policy.

a) economy
b) economic
c) economically
d) economize

✅ Answer: b) economic

Why?
"a new ___ policy" → adjective needed → economic

Q2:

She spoke ______ about the situation.

a) emotion
b) emotional
c) emotionally
d) emotions

✅ Answer: c) emotionally

Why?
"spoke ___" → verb needs adverb → emotionally

Q3:

______ is more important than money to some people.

a) Happy
b) Happily
c) Happiness
d) Happen

✅ Answer: c) Happiness

Why?
Blank as subject of sentence → needs noun

Q4:

The company is ______ its workforce due to losses.

a) reduction
b) reduced
c) reducing
d) reduce

✅ Answer: c) reducing

Why?
"is ___" → present continuous verb

Q5:

This is a ______ accepted principle in physics.

a) wide
b) widen
c) widely
d) width

✅ Answer: c) widely

Why?
"___ accepted" → adverb modifying adjective

📘 RULE 2: Collocations (Words That Stick Together)

The Pattern:

Certain words are always used together in English.

Common Collocation	Example in PTE
pay attention (not give/make)	Students must pay attention
make a decision (not do/take)	We need to make a decision
take responsibility	He must take responsibility
heavy rain (not strong rain)	Due to heavy rain
strong coffee (not powerful coffee)	I need strong coffee
deeply affected	She was deeply affected
closely related	These ideas are closely related

🔥 Practice Questions

Q6:

Parents should ______ responsibility for their children's education.

a) do
b) make
c) take
d) give

✅ Answer: c) take

(take responsibility)

Q7:

The lecture was so boring that I couldn't ______ attention.

a) do
b) make
c) take
d) pay

✅ Answer: d) pay

(pay attention)

Q8:

After hours of discussion, they finally ______ a decision.

a) did
b) made
c) took
d) had

✅ Answer: b) made

(make a decision)

Q9:

The two languages are ______ related.

a) strong
b) close
c) closely
d) near

✅ Answer: c) closely

(closely related)

Q10:

The ______ rain caused flooding in the city.

a) strong
b) heavy
c) big
d) large

✅ Answer: b) heavy

(heavy rain)

📘 RULE 3: Connectors & Reference Words (For Re-order Paragraphs)

The Pattern:

A sentence with certain words cannot be first.

Use this to order paragraphs.

Word Type	Examples	Position
Pronouns	It, They, He, She, This, These, Those	Never first
Contrast connectors	However, Nevertheless, On the other hand	After opposing idea
Result connectors	Therefore, Consequently, As a result	After cause
Addition connectors	Moreover, Furthermore, In addition	After similar idea
Time markers	Then, Later, After that, Subsequently	After earlier event

🔥 Practice Question (Re-order Paragraphs)

Q11: Put these sentences in order:

1. However, this method has several disadvantages.

2. Many companies use traditional marketing strategies.

3. They often rely on television and print advertisements.

4. Therefore, some businesses are shifting to digital marketing.

✅ Answer: 2 → 3 → 1 → 4

Why?

Sentence 2 introduces the topic (first)

Sentence 3 starts with "They" → refers to "companies" in sentence 2

Sentence 1 starts with "However" → contrasts with sentence 3

Sentence 4 starts with "Therefore" → result of sentence 1

📘 RULE 4: Prepositions (Small but Frequent)

Most Tested Prepositions in PTE:

Preposition	Use	Example
in	year, month, country, inside	in 2020, in March, in Japan
on	day, date, surface	on Monday, on July 5th
at	specific time, small place	at 3pm, at the station
of	possession, belonging	the color of the sky
by	method, deadline	by car, by Friday
for	duration, purpose	for 5 years, for work
with	accompaniment, using	with friends, with a knife

🔥 Practice Questions

Q12:

The meeting is scheduled ______ 10am.

a) in
b) on
c) at
d) for

✅ Answer: c) at

(specific time)

Q13:

She has lived in London ______ five years.

a) since
b) for
c) during
d) from

✅ Answer: b) for

(duration)

Q14:

The report must be submitted ______ Friday.

a) in
b) on
c) at
d) by

✅ Answer: d) by

(deadline)

Q15:

He is interested ______ learning Chinese.

a) for
b) in
c) on
d) at

✅ Answer: b) in

(interested in — fixed preposition)

📋 Final Exam Pattern Summary for PTE Reading

Question Type	Grammar You Need	How Many?
Fill in the Blanks (R&W)	Word form + Collocations + Prepositions	5–6
Fill in the Blanks (Drag & Drop)	Word form + Collocations	4–5
Re-order Paragraphs	Connectors + Pronouns + Time markers	2–3
Multiple Choice (Multiple Answer)	Overall sentence meaning	2–3
Multiple Choice (Single Answer)	Overall sentence meaning	2–3

✅ Your 5-Minute Daily Practice Plan

Day	Focus	Do This
Monday	Word form	5 fill-in-the-blank (adj/noun/verb)
Tuesday	Collocations	10 common pairs (pay attention, make decision)
Wednesday	Prepositions	10 fill-in-the-blank (in/on/at/for/by)
Thursday	Connectors	1 re-order paragraph set
Friday	Mixed	10 mixed practice questions

🎁 Bonus: 5 Mixed Practice Questions (PTE Style)

Q16:

The results were ______ affected by the weather.

a) significant
b) significance
c) significantly
d) signify

Q17:

She failed the exam ______ she studied very hard.

a) because
b) so
c) although
d) therefore

Q18:

Please ______ attention to the instructions carefully.

a) do
b) make
c) take
d) pay

Q19:

The article discusses the ______ of climate change.

a) affect
b) effect
c) affecting
d) effective

Q20:

He is responsible ______ managing the team.

a) of
b) for
c) with
d) about

Answers:

16 – c
17 – c
18 – d
19 – b
20 – b

Wednesday, 6 May 2026