The English Language test contains 28 multiple choice questions to be completed in 28 minutes. It evaluates conventions of standard English (spelling, punctuation, sentence structure), knowledge of language (grammar, style), and vocabulary. To prepare, review grammar rules, spelling rules, prefixes/suffixes, and practice tests. The questions test punctuation, capitalization, parts of speech, simple/compound/complex sentences, meaning of words in context, and synonyms. Key areas to review include spelling rules, punctuation rules like comma usage, and sentence structure types.

1. CONQUERING THE TEAS
Part 5:
English Language Test

2. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST
 Depending on background in
language: easy or somewhat
challenging.
 28 questions in 28 minutes: that’s
exactly 1 min. per question
o Coming back to questions
probably not a useful strategy
here.
o Many involve reading through
the answers choosing the one
without grammar mistakes.

3.  Breakdown:
o 3/8 of questions = conventions of
Standard English (spelling, punctuation,
and sentence structure)
o 3/8 of questions = knowledge of
language (grammar, identify formal vs.
informal writing, well-organized
paragraphs)
o 2/8 of questions = vocabulary (use
context and word parts to determine the
meaning of words)
 Preparation: Review
grammar/spelling/punctuation rules and
common prefixes/suffixes (especially
medical-related) and, as usual, practice
tests.

4. MULTIPLE CHOICE STRATEGIES
 Try answering in your mind
before reading choices if
appropriate, but many questions
require simply going through the
answers to pick the right one.
o Eliminate choices that just
sound terrible or that have
obviously bogus punctuation.
o If narrowed down to two
choices, choose the one that
seems the best: the simplest,
most direct example is often
the one.

5.  Be careful – sometimes it is a bit of a trick, for example:
o Consider these choices for “Which of the following words is an
exception to a common spelling rule?”: batted, lives, albeit,
believe. Actually, two involve one rule and two a very different
rule.
o Note the form of this problem: these are all correctly spelled
words! But which is an exception to a rule?
o “Batted” looks normal and so does “lives,” but both involve rules
for changing a word’s form– maybe hard to say; but the last two
are both “i before e” cases and “albeit” clearly breaks the rule.

6. TYPES OF QUESTIONS
 Conventions of Standard English.
o Choose which sentence is correctly
punctuated.
 Eliminate the obviously bogus
ones.
o Which word is misspelled or which is
the correct plural form?
 Many spelling rules!
 Sometimes you may know by gut
feel or may be obvious.
o Which word should be capitalized?
 Just have to know the rules.

7. o Choose which word is a
certain part of speech or
which part of speech a
certain word is.
 Know: noun, pronoun,
verb, adjective, adverb,
preposition, conjunction,
interjection.
o Identify the compound
sentence or the simple
sentence:
 Know simple, compound,
and complex sentences.

8.  Knowledge of language.
oChoose the sentence which most clearly expresses the
idea (looking for “clarity and concision”).
Four sentences to choose from: choose the best one.
Some short sentences given and four choices of how to
combine them into one clear sentence.
A single bad sentence and four choices of it corrected.
Looking for clarity, conciseness, most simple,
straightforward.

9. o Well organized paragraph.
 Choose the best topic sentence
from the choices.
 Choose the sentence that would
not fit in a paragraph.
 Given a set of short sentences,
choose in which order they
would make a good paragraph.
 Looking for clarity, consistency;
again, simple, straightforward.
o Choose the sentence with the
proper:
 Subject/verb agreement
 Noun/pronoun agreement

10.  Vocabulary
o What is the meaning of the word
in the sentence?
 Use context clues
o Which is the best synonym for
the word in the sentence or best
captures the meaning?
 Read the sentence, replacing
with each choice.
o Given an A&P term, choose its
definition or vice versa.
 Know your basic medical
terminology
(prefixes/suffixes).

11. NEED TO KNOWS:
SPELLING
• “i before e except after c or when
sounding like A”
o Achieve, but conceive and neighbor.
o Exception: protein, neither, height.
 Rules for plurals:
o Normally just add s.
o Words ending in s, sh, ch, x, or z:
add es
 Lunch → lunches; boss →
bosses
o Words ending in f or fe, drop the f or
fe and add ves
 Knife → knives; life → lives
 Exception: proof →proofs

12.  Rules for suffixes:
o Dropping the final e if suffix begins with a
vowel
 Guide + ance → guidance, but:
 Like + ness → likeness
 Exception: due + ly → duly
o Doubling final consonant
 Must be one syllable word or with
accent on last syllable and only one
vowel ahead of the consonant
 Admit + ed → admitted
 Loop + ing → looping
o Change y to i
 The y must be preceded by a consonant
 Doesn’t apply if suffix is –ing or -ize
 Beauty + ful →beautiful, but apply + ing
→ applying
 Capitalization: proper nouns, titles with a name,
directions only if part of the name of the region
(South Africa), proper adjective (American).

13.  Homophones (same sound, different
spelling) to know:
o Its (possessive case) vs it’s
(contraction of it is)
o There (location) vs their
(possessive) vs they’re (contraction)
o Ought (should) vs aught (zero)
 Homographs (same spelling but
different meaning and usually different
pronunciation), e.g. “bat”: sports
equipment vs animal.
o Digest (assimilate food vs
condensed book)
o Content (happy vs what’s in
something)

14. NEED TO KNOWS:
PUNCTUATION
 Commas
o Before an independent
clause: Bob caught three
fish, and I caught two.
o After any introductory
element: word, phrase,
adverb clause, or dependent
clause; e.g.: After the final
out, we went to celebrate.
Studying the stars, I was
impressed by their beauty.
o Around nonessential
elements: Thomas Edison,
an American inventor, was
born in Ohio.
o Series: She was tall, thin, and
blonde.

15. FANBOYS
FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO
The first of the four spelling rules just listed was: before an independent clause.
A clause has a subject and a verb. A phrase only has a verb (no comma
required). An independent clause is a complete thought on its own. Any
clause following FANBOYS is considered to be independent.
For example:
My dog enjoys being bathed but hates getting his nails trimmed.
“but hates getting” has a verb but no subject; it is therefore a phrase – no comma needed.
My dog enjoys being bathed, but he hates getting his nails trimmed.
“he hates getting” has a subject and verb; it is therefore a clause. And it follows one of the FANBOYS, so it is independent
(“but he hates” is considered a complete thought; the FANBOYS are called coordinating conjunctions) – comma needed.
My dog enjoys being bathed although he hates getting his nails trimmed.
“he hates” has subject and verb; so it is a clause, but “although” is not one of the FANBOYS, so this is a dependent
clause (“although he hates” is not considered a complete thought; “although” is called a subordinating conjunction) –
no comma needed.
Although my dog hates getting his nails trimmed, he enjoys being bathed.
It’s still a dependent clause (not a complete thought), but now it is also an introductory element – comma needed.
Other subordinating conjunctions (they make dependent clauses): as, because, since, if, until, while, when, whenever, once – AND “so” (this
word leads a double life) in the sense of “so that.” There are many other subordinating conjunctions. EXCEPT for “so” in the sense of “so
that,” if it’s not one of the FANBOYS, it is a subordinating conjunction, and does not take a comma.

16.  Quotations: make sure all punctuation of the end of a quotation is
before the final quotation mark. She said “OK,” and signed it.
 Semicolon
o Between independent clauses with transitional word (therefore,
however, etc.): I think we can agree; however, my friends will not.
o Clauses without a coordinate conjunction: She is outside; we are
inside.

17.  More transitional words:
o Agreement (addition): also,
likewise, in addition, further
o Opposition: however, conversely,
although (no semicolon or
comma).
o Conclusion: therefore, thus,
hence, so – in the sense of
“therefore” (comma).
o Summary: after all, in conclusion,
altogether, in summary
o Many others: for example,
consequently, ultimately, etc.
These all function as “conjunctive adverbs” and
take a semicolon before them AND a comma
after them – EXCEPT: “ALTHOUGH” AND
“SO.” “Although” is considered a subordinating
conjunction and does not take a semicolon OR
a comma. “So” is one of the FANBOYS which
are considered coordinating conjunctions and
takes the comma (only one – before it).

18. NEED TO KNOWS: SENTENCE STRUCTURE
 Parts of speech (there are eight).
o Remember if a word is modifying an adjective, it is called an adverb
(an adverb often modifies a verb: in “quickly ran” quickly is an adverb;
in “it was very striking”, very is also an adverb).
o A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. Remember, if it
connects clauses and is coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), clause
is independent and comma required.

19.  Again, drilling in clauses: a clause is
sentence part which has its own subject
and verb (a phrase does not have both).
o An independent clause is a complete
thought: I went to school, and Tom went
to practice (“and Tom went to practice”
is considered a complete thought
because “and” is one of the FANBOYS).
Requires comma.
o A dependent clause is not a complete
thought: I went to school when Tom
went to practice (“when Tom went to
practice” is not a complete thought).
Only requires a comma if it is
introductory: When Tom went to
practice, I went to school.

20.  Know the kinds of sentences (any complete sentence must
have a subject and a verb – otherwise it is a “sentence
fragment”).
o Simple: only one (independent) clause, the sentence
itself.
o Compound: two independent clauses
o Complex: one independent clause and also a dependent
clause.
o Compound-complex: two independent clauses and at
least one dependent clause
Jack and Jill like walking and fishing but hate running and hunting. = SIMPLE! (one independent clause)
I used to jog, but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass. David Lee Roth = COMPOUND (two
independent)
When Jack and Jill are walking, Jack walks on the right. = COMPLEX (one dependent and one
independent)
I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in the department store, and he
asked for my autograph. Shirley Temple = COMPOUND-COMPLEX (two independent and one
dependent clause - and one Claus )
Only phrases here – verbs but no subject.
“But” is one of the FANBOYS, so independent clause – comma needed.
Dependent clause (introductory, so a comma).
Dependent clause so no comma.
Main sentence = 1 independent clause.
Second independent following
“and,” one of the FANBOYS.

21. NEED TO KNOWS:
GRAMMAR/LANGUAGE
 Verb tense:
o Simple tenses: past, present, future: wrote, write, will write
o Progressive tenses: was writing, am writing, will be writing
o Perfective tenses: had written, have written, will have written
 Tense agreement: She was an intrepid hiker, and nobody can
keep her from doing the Appalachian Trail. Should be “could
keep her.”
 Subject/verb agreement: in number, singular with singular, plural
with plural, e.g. I write but he/she writes.
 Pronoun/antecedent agreement in number: e.g., Smart
companies will do what it takes to keep their best employees.

22.  Choose the “best sentence for clarity and
concision” or, given some short sentences,
choose the best (= clearest, most
straightforward) sentence made by combining
them.
o Avoid sentences with introductory elements
– look for one that begins with a simple
subject (but a good introductory clause can
sometimes be the best way to combine).
o Avoid the passive voice: “The clubs were
formed by John.” Instead choose “John
formed the clubs.”
o Remember: simple, direct, straightforward,
accurate summary of the given idea(s).

23.  Well-organized paragraph
o Choose which is the topic sentence:
 Look for a straightforward sentence without introductory
phrases like “not only” or “needless to say.”
 Look for one that states something general or overall.
o Choose the sentence that would not fit with the others in a
paragraph: look for the off-topic one

24. NEED TO KNOWS:
VOCABULARY
 Use context clues to determine meaning of
unfamiliar word.
o You are given a sentence.
o Get the overall meaning and tone.
o Use that to choose the best meaning of
the given word.
 Use word parts to determine the meaning
of a word.
 Prefixes: a-,ab-,ad-,epi-,hyper-,hypo-,inter-
,intra-,supra-,infra-, dia-, tachy-, brady-,
rhino-, neuro-, anti-,ante-,macro-,oligo-
,poly-,pre-,post-,meta-, etc.

25.  Suffixes
oGeneral word suffixes:
Plural: -s,-es,-ies
Past tense: -ed
Progressive/continuous: -ing
Comparative/superlative: -er,-est
oMore importantly: for A&P words:
-algia,-itis, -uria,-lith,-megaly,-
emia
-blast,-clast,-crine,-cide,-gen
-ectomy,-otomy,-plasty,-raphy
-osis,-oid,-oma,-penia,-plasia
-gram,-graph,-logy,-metry,-oscopy

26. WRAP UP
 Practice tests are the best way – you
will see what you need to know and
how it will be asked.
 Bone up on spelling, punctuation, and
grammar rules.
 For work with best sentences think:
o Which one is simplest?
o Which one is most straightforward?
 Have some fun reviewing your English
– will help you write/speak better.
 Go conquer the TEAS!

27. Our Services
Study Help
• Drop-In Study Help for all courses
• Study Groups
• Question Drop-Off
Student Tech Help
• Live Chat
• Scheduled Lab Consultations
• Ask-a-Lab Associate Email
• Get Tech Ready and Appy Hour Workshops
Learning Help
• Check out our collection of self-service resources that supplement classroom materials
Get In Touch!
www.wccnet.edu/LC (live chat assistance offered during regular hours)
(734) 973-3420
Email: LCLab@wccnet.edu