4 high-yield, syllabus-aligned questions on Lexis, structure & usage, covering 12 individually creditable mark points. Each one shows the answer that scores full marks under our guide, which phrase earns which mark, and a common incomplete answer — so you can see the difference rather than guess at it.
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Mark allocations are TopMarks’ own, written against the published syllabus and Chief Examiners’ reports. They are a guide to how these answers are usually credited, not an official marking scheme.
Explain3 marks
Explain what is meant by concord and give two examples of common concord errors.
TopMarks model answer
Concord is the grammatical agreement between words in a sentence, especially the agreement of a verb with its subject in number and person. A common error is failing to make the verb agree with the true subject when a phrase comes between them, as in “The list of items are on the table” instead of “is on the table”. Another is treating an indefinite pronoun such as “everyone” or “each” as plural, as in “Everyone have arrived” instead of “Everyone has arrived”.
Suggested marking guide
1Concord is agreement between subject and verb
2Error caused by an intervening phrase
3Error with an indefinite pronoun or collective noun
Why it scores
The intervening-phrase trap is the one WAEC sets most often. In “The list of items…”, the noun nearest the verb is the plural “items”, but the SUBJECT is the singular “list”. Find the subject by asking what the sentence is actually about, then ignore everything between it and the verb.
A common incomplete answer
“Concord is when the subject and the verb agree with each other.”
What it costs: Two marks of three. The definition is correct and credited, but the question also asked for two examples of common errors and neither was given.
State the difference between a phrase and a clause, and give one example of each.
TopMarks model answer
A phrase is a group of related words that does not contain a finite verb and therefore does not make complete sense on its own; “on the wooden table” is an example. A clause is a group of words that does contain a finite verb; “because he was tired” is an example. A main clause makes complete sense by itself, while a subordinate clause does not, even though it has a finite verb.
Suggested marking guide
1A phrase has no finite verb
2A clause has a finite verb
3An example of each given
Why it scores
The test is the FINITE VERB, and nothing else — not length, not complexity. “Having finished his work” is long and still a phrase, because “having finished” is non-finite. “He ran” is two words and a clause. Apply that one test and every question of this kind becomes mechanical.
A common incomplete answer
“A phrase is a short group of words and a clause is a longer one.”
What it costs: All three marks. Length is not the criterion — the presence of a finite verb is — and no examples are given.
Key ideas to include: phrase, clause, finite verb, main clause, subordinate clause.
Rewrite3 marks
Rewrite the following in reported speech: “I will see you tomorrow,” the teacher said to the boy.
TopMarks model answer
The teacher told the boy that he would see him the following day. The reporting verb “said to” becomes “told”; the pronoun “I” becomes “he” and “you” becomes “him”; the tense shifts back, so “will” becomes “would”; and the time expression “tomorrow” becomes “the following day”.
Suggested marking guide
1Tense shifted back correctly
2Pronouns changed correctly
3Time expression changed
Why it scores
Three things change together and each carries a mark: the TENSE moves one step back, the PRONOUNS shift to the third person, and the TIME EXPRESSION moves from now to then. “Tomorrow” is the one candidates leave untouched, because it does not look like grammar — but it is reported from a later moment, so it must become “the following day”.
A common incomplete answer
“The teacher told the boy that he will see him tomorrow.”
What it costs: One mark of three. The pronouns are correctly changed, but “will” has not been shifted back to “would” and “tomorrow” has not become “the following day”.
Key ideas to include: reported speech, back-shift of tense, pronoun change, time expression.
Explain3 marks
Explain the difference between the active and the passive voice, and state one situation in which the passive is preferred.
TopMarks model answer
In the active voice the subject of the sentence performs the action, as in “The committee approved the report”. In the passive voice the subject receives the action, and the doer either follows “by” or is left out altogether, as in “The report was approved by the committee”. The passive is preferred when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant or deliberately not named, which is why it is common in scientific and official writing.
Suggested marking guide
1Active: the subject performs the action
2Passive: the subject receives the action
3When the passive is preferred
Why it scores
Converting between the voices is a mechanical operation once you see it: the object becomes the subject, the verb takes a form of “to be” plus the past participle, and the original subject moves behind “by”. Getting the tense of “to be” right is where the marks are actually won and lost.
A common incomplete answer
“In the active voice the subject does the action, and in the passive voice it is done to the subject.”
What it costs: Two marks of three. The active voice is credited, but the passive is described loosely rather than as the subject RECEIVING the action, and no situation in which the passive is preferred is given.
Key ideas to include: active voice, passive voice, agent, past participle, by-phrase.
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