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English 4 min read · 2025-10-20

The Most-Tested Grammar Rules in the 11+

Ten grammar rules that account for the majority of SPaG questions on 11+ papers — and the common mistakes for each.

If you focus on these ten grammar areas, you'll cover most SPaG marks on a typical 11+ paper:

  1. Subject-verb agreement ("each of the children was", not "were").
  2. Apostrophes for possession and contraction (its vs it's).
  3. Commas in lists and after introductory clauses.
  4. Speech marks with correct end punctuation inside the quote.
  5. Tense consistency within a paragraph.
  6. Pronoun choice after prepositions ("between her and me", not "and I").
  7. Homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're).
  8. Word classes (recognising adverbs and adjectives).
  9. Comparatives and superlatives (better/best, not "more better").
  10. Active vs passive voice.

Practice now on grammar questions to spot which of the ten your child needs to work on. Don't drill all ten at once — pick the two that need the most help and spend a week on each.

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