Comprehensive 2026 ATI TEAS 7 English & Language Usage Study Guide

What's going on, besties? This is everything you're going to need to know, all in one place, when it comes to the AIT's Version 7 portion of the exam, specifically the English portion. Let's get started.

So, we're going to start by delving into the nuances of spelling words that contain the combination letters of IE and EI. To kick things off, let's examine words such as achieve, believe, and peace. A common error is to invert these letters, spelling them with I before E, which phonetically might seem more logical. The confusion between IE and EI is a frequent source of spelling difficulties on the TE's. A mnemonic that makes it helpful to remember this spelling rule is "I before E, except after C." It's a useful guideline for navigating these tricky spellings. The word "receives," for example, serves as an excellent illustration of the "I before E, except after C" rule, with additional words like "receipt," "sealing," "deceive," and "conceive" being prime examples.

However, this mnemonic, while helpful, has its limitations. Relying solely on it leads to spelling errors, and as we continue throughout this entire video, it's going to seem like the English language thrives on being the language of exceptions. More accurately, the "I before E, except after C" guideline primarily applies when the IE represents a long E sound. So, where words like "receive," "receive," "receipt," "sealing," "deceive," and "conceive" all follow this pattern. Are you prepared to explore the exceptions to this rule? Words such as "ancient," "efficient," "science," and "sufficient" defy the "I before E, except after C" principle. The rule falters with these examples because the IE does not produce a long E sound. So, going back through phonetically, we can see "ancient" is ancient, "efficient" is efficient, "science" is science, "sufficient" is sufficient. They don't produce that long E sound.

Furthermore, the EI sequence can appear after consonants other than C, including words like "their," "foreign," "weird," "leisure," "height," "neighbor," "weight," "vain," and "feisty." It's astonishing how such a small pair of letters can cause such immense confusion. If you find yourself struggling with these spelling conventions, remember the rule "I before E, except after C" guideline can be incredibly useful. Yet, it's important to note that it mainly applies only when the IE combination produces a long E sound.

Let's dive into how drop the final E spelling rules operate, starting with the introduction of suffixes. So, suffixes are a cluster of words that are attached to the end of a word, altering its meaning. Consider the following suffixes: we have -ing, -ed, -f, and -l. Notice that some suffixes begin with a vowel. We call these vowel suffixes. So, which two suffixes in our examples end with a vowel? Well, you've got that right. We've got -ing and we've got -ed. They both begin with a vowel. Conversely, we also have suffixes that begin with a consonant, and we call those consonant suffixes. So, which of our four examples are classified as consonant suffixes? You're absolutely correct. We have our -f and our -l. They both start with a consonant.

So, here's the guideline: When I have a word that ends with a silent E, we should remove the E before attaching a vowel suffix. Take, for example, the word "hope" and consider the suffix -ful added to the end of it, which begins with a consonant. If a word like "hope" concludes with a silent E, attaching a consonant suffix like -ful doesn't require any alteration to the original word. Observe how when we add "hope" and "-ful," we keep the same integrity of that word: "hopeful." However, the scenario is going to change. We're adding vowel suffixes to a word that ends with a silent E. If we want to add the suffix -ing, a vowel suffix, to "hope," that E at the end must be removed before we can add it. If you're confused, you can think of it as preventing two vowels from touching each other. Once that E is dropped in "hope" before we add our vowel suffix, it's going to give us "hoping." We drop the E whenever we are adding a vowel suffix.

Let's look at another example. Let's use the word "care." Adding the suffix "-less," since "-less" begins with a consonant, is going to qualify as a consonant suffix. This allows us to merge the words very precisely without having to remove any of our vowels. However, if we wanted to add the vowel suffix "-ed" to "cared," that combination of E and D represents a vowel suffix, meaning that we are going to have to drop the E in "care" before we add our suffix.

Are you ready for the exceptions? Let's examine the word "notice." When we're adding the suffix "-able," this is an instance when we don't remove the E, keeping it all together as "noticeable." This decision is driven by the role of the final E in maintaining a soft C sound. Removing the E would transform the word "notice" into "notic," altering the pronunciation to "noticable," which deviates from the intended "noticeable." Therefore, we maintain that initial E that we had on the end of "notice" before we add the suffix. So, the exception rule is: We keep the E if the word ends in C or GE and the suffix starts with an A or an O.

Let's consider the G sound, as illustrated in the word "change." When adding certain vowel suffixes, the E is retained to preserve that soft G sound, as we see in "changeable." Without the E, the pronunciation could incorrectly shift to a hard G. However, in "changing," the E is dropped because the I following the G ensures that that soft sound is still preserved. Finally, let's explore words like "courage" and "outrage." When we add the suffix "-ous," resulting in "courageous" and "outrageous" respectively, in these instances, similar to the word "noticeable," we do not remove the E before we add the vowel suffix "-ous." The reason behind keeping the E in "courageous" and "outrageous" aligns with maintaining the integrity of the original word "courage" and "outrage" rather than adhering strictly to that soft C or G sound rule. The E in these cases doesn't serve to soften a preceding consonant, since the preceding letters G in "courage" and G in "outrage" are not followed by an E to make a soft sound. Instead, that E is going to be retained to preserve the root word's form and ensure correct pronunciation, as well as recognition of the derived adjective. Thus, when we add "-ous" to "courage" and "outrage," forming "courageous" and "outrageous," the presence of the E maintains the word's flow and aids in conveying the derived meaning efficiently without altering the base word significantly.

Our next rule is to double the final consonant in certain cases. The final consonant of a word needs to be doubled before appending any kind of suffixes like -ed, -ing, and -able. This occurs in words like "run." When we add "-ing," it becomes "running" with the extra N. "Tripped" with our "trip" and our "-ed," we add the extra P to "trip." "Jog" and "-ing" becomes "jogging" with an extra G. And "hug" and "-able" becomes "huggable" with the extra G.

So, how do we determine when the final consonant needs to be doubled? Well, this is where the "one-one-one" rule comes into play. The rule is simple: If a word has one syllable, concludes with a single vowel followed by a single consonant, then the consonant is going to be doubled. Revisiting one of our previous examples, the word "run" fits this pattern perfectly. It's a single-syllable word ending with one vowel and one consonant, necessitating the need to double the N before adding the "-ing."

Now, let's consider why the final consonant in certain words isn't doubled by looking at their base forms. So, let's take a look at the example "dream," for instance. It has one syllable, but it has two vowels. It has E and A before its final consonant of M. So, in this case, we would not double the final consonant. We would just add the "-ing" to the end, making it "dreaming." Similarly, let's take a look at the word "rest." We have one syllable, we have one vowel, but look here, we actually have two consonants. We have S and T. So, that does not fit inside our "one-one-one" rule. So, when we're adding the suffix "-ing," we would not double the final consonant, leaving us with "resting." And then we have our last example, "open." So, we want to add "-ed" to the word "open." Well, in this case, we have two syllables: "o-pen." So, it doesn't follow our "one-one-one" rule. While it does have one vowel and one consonant at the end, because of the two syllables, it's not going to fit inside of our rule. So, when we're adding "-ed" to the word "open," it would just be spelled "opened." So, the rule is pretty clear: Only when we have one-syllable words ending with a single vowel followed by a single consonant, we are going to double the final consonant.

Now, for the exceptions. There are letters that are going to shy away from the doubling spotlight. These are H, W, X, and Y. They prefer to stand alone, so you won't see them doubled whenever we are adding a suffix. So, some prime examples of this that you'll see on the TE's is a word like "mixing," where it's "mix-ing" and not doubling that final consonant of "mixx-ing." "Play" plus "-able" becomes "playable" and not "play-able" with a double Y. "Brew" plus "-ing" becomes "brewing," not "brewing" with another W. And words ending usually in H don't typically follow the "one-one-one" rule.

Changing the Y to an I is one of the most complex topics to discuss when it comes to spelling rules. I'm going to break each concept down to help you understand when we should follow this rule. First, we're going to start with one of our exceptions: final Y plus -ing. This rule is pretty straightforward. When adding an -ing to a word that ends in Y, we want to retain the Y. Take "copy" and "enjoy" for example. Adding -ing to these words doesn't involve altering that Y. You're simply just adding -ing. The rationale for keeping the Y intact is to avoid creating a double I sequence, which is not a recognizable vowel combination in the English language. The only exception to this rule might be "skiing," but that's an outlier because it borrows from another language, making that double I acceptable to its unique instance.

Diving deeper into the transformation of the final Y in a word, it's worth noting that the Y typically turns into an I when we're adding any kind of suffix, either it beginning with a vowel or a consonant suffix. However, it's important to note that we are excluding -ing from this discussion, as it adheres to its own general guidelines, like we discussed before. Another crucial aspect to this rule is to consider the presence of a consonant immediately before the final Y in our base word. Taking a closer look at our two examples, "baby" and "happy," demonstrate this principle. In "baby," the letter B precedes the final Y, and in "happy," the letter P precedes the final Y. When we introduce the suffix -s, which is a vowel suffix, to "baby," and -ness, which is a consonant suffix, to "happy," the preceding consonant follows the conversion of Y to I upon the addition of these suffixes, illustrating the rule in action.

And then, lastly, we're going to talk about when we don't change the Y to an I. We won't be converting the Y to an I before appending a suffix when the Y is preceded by a vowel. This exception is particularly intriguing, and I've chosen to discuss it last, partly because it involves navigating vowel combinations more intricately. Let's take a look at our two examples: "stay" and "valley." In both of these words, a vowel precedes the final Y. There's an A in "stay" before the Y, and there's an E in "valley" before the Y. Regardless if we're adding a vowel suffix like -ed to "stay" or a consonant suffix like -ness to "valley," the presence of a vowel before that final Y means that we keep the Y unchanged when we're introducing the suffix. And that's everything that you're going to need to know when we're talking about changing a Y to an I, the final Y plus -ing, and what we would not change the Y to an I.

So, next, let's talk about rules for plurals. So, there's a lot of rules, so hang tight with me. We're going to start with the general rule. So, most nouns are made up of plurals by adding S to the end of a singular form. So, here you see we have a singular form: car, bag, and table. We simply just add an S, making it cars, bags, and tables. Nouns ending in S, X, Z, CH, SH, and SS. These nouns are made plural by adding ES to the end of their singular forms, like we see with "bus" becomes "buses" with the ES, "bench" becomes "benches," and "box" becomes "boxes." Of course, there's always exceptions to this rule. Words that end in CH but make more of a K sound, like we see in "stomach," we just add an S. And words that have an irregular plural, like "fish," would just be "fish." "Fish" could be singular, and it can also be plural. And "ox" would actually become "oxen." These are common words you're going to see on the TE's.

So, what about nouns that end in F or FE? Well, we change the F or the FE to VES whenever we're making it plural. So, "calf" would become "calves" with a VES, "shelf" would become "shelves," and "wolf" would become "wolves." And the exception to this rule is there are common words that you're going to see where we don't drop the F or the FE. So, these are a list of those words: we see "roofs," "chiefs," "chefs," "beliefs," "oofs," "reefs," "giraffes," "refs," "safes," and "surfs."

So, what about nouns ending in O? So, nouns ending in O preceded by a vowel are going to be made plural by adding S. So, like we see in "radio" becomes "radios," "stereo" becomes "stereos," and "video" becomes "videos." Because all of these examples, the O is preceded by a vowel. However, if the noun ends in an O and it's preceded by a consonant instead of a vowel, we make it plural by adding ES. Like we see in "potato" becomes "potatoes" with ES, "hero" becomes "heroes," and "domino" becomes "dominoes." And there are, of course, some exceptions to these rules, like we see with "piano." We would simply just add an S to make it plural. "Photos," the same thing, we would add an S. And then "halo," the same thing, we would add an S to "halos" to make it plural.

And our last rule for plurals is nouns that end in Y. When we have a Y that follows a consonant, we change the Y to an I and we add an ES. Like we see in "city," we would remove that Y, and it would become "cities." Same thing with "candy" would become "candies," and "lady" would become "ladies." And just like we saw with O, whenever we have a Y followed by a vowel, the plural is going to be formed by retaining that Y and simply just adding S. Like we see with "day" becomes "days" because the Y is preceded by the vowel A, so we would simply just add S. Same thing with "toy" would become "toys," and "donkey" would become "donkeys."

Hymns, homophones, and homographs explore the fascinating world of words with similar sounds but distinct meanings. Homophones specifically are words that sound alike but differ in meaning, like the word "male" and "male." Some additional examples of homophones could be like "berry," which is the fruit, or "bury" when you bury a plant into soil. We have "night," which is like the nighttime when it's dark, and we have "knight," which is a person in shining armor that protects somebody. Same thing with the word "be" and "bee." One could be an animal, a little bee, and one is just the word "be." Each pair of these words share the same pronunciation, yet each word carries its own unique meaning.

Homographs are words that share the same spelling but carry different meanings. A classic example of this could be "bow," like an archer's bow, and "bow," which is to bend forward at the waist. And "bow." Additional homographs could be "wine," which is to turn, or "wind," which is a breeze. "Live" is to exist, and "live" is occurring in real time. "Wound" could be like an injury, or "wound" could be the past tense of "wind." As well as "lead," which is to guide someone, or "lead," which is a metal. Despite having identical spelling, each one of these words conveys a distinct meaning. So, a helpful mnemonic for distinguishing between homophones and homographs lies with their Greek roots: "phone," which denotes sound, so whenever we're talking about homophones, the words are going to sound the same, but they're going to have different meanings. And "graph," which means to write, suggesting that homographs are written identically, but they have different meanings.

So, what about words that share the same pronunciation as well as spelling, but they have different meanings? Let's consider the word "ring," which means jewelry that we could wear on our finger, or the sound that a bell or telephone makes when it rings. "Ring" in both contexts represents hymns. Words that are simultaneously homophones and homographs. Some additional words could be "letter," which is a character that we see in the alphabet, or "letter," which is a handwritten message. We again see "bow," which is a bow you can wear in your hair, or "bow," which could be an archer's bow. And then, lastly, "bat," which could be a baseball bat, or "bat," which is a mammal that flies through the air at night. It's worth noting that the terms "homonyms" can sometimes be used more broadly to encompass any word that qualifies as either a homophone or a homograph.

Next, let's talk about standard English punctuation. I'm going to cover 13 fundamental punctuation rules that you are going to need to know in order to pass the AIT's, starting with rule number one: Every declarative sentence should include a period, also known as a full stop. For example, "She loves chocolate." "He is my best friend." "My dad wants to go to a restaurant for dinner." "We have a meeting in 2 hours." It's important to remember to punctuate every declarative sentence or statement with a period.

Rule number two is to always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. For example, "She loves chocolate." "She" is capitalized because it's the first letter of the sentence. We say the same thing in "He is my best friend," "My dad wants to go to the restaurant for dinner," and "We have a meeting in 2 hours." That very first letter of that very first word in every sentence should be capitalized. Additionally, when every sentence concludes with a question mark, period, or exclamation mark, we want to ensure that we leave at least one space before starting our next sentence with that capital letter. For instance, "She loves chocolate. He loves pizza." There should be a space in between those two independent clauses before we start our next sentence with a capital letter.

Rule number three involves capitalizing proper nouns. But what exactly is a proper noun? Essentially, they are specific names given to common nouns. For instance, while "boy" is a common noun, "David" is a proper noun because it is a specific boy's name. We don't capitalize the word "boy" unless it starts a sentence, but "David" is always going to be capitalized no matter where it is located in the sentence. Next, consider the word "day." "Day" is a common noun and remains lowercase. However, "Friday" is the name of a specific day, thus it is a proper noun and would be capitalized. The same rule applies to the rest of our examples: "month" is a common noun, "July" is a specific month, making it a proper noun, and we capitalize it. "City" is a common noun, "New York" would be a proper noun. "An ocean" is a common noun, while "Atlantic Ocean" would be a proper noun. So, in the sentence, "He is a boy. His name is David," "David" is our proper noun, and we would capitalize that. "Boy" would remain lowercase, just like we see with our example. "The best day of the week is Friday." "Day" is a common noun, so it's going to remain lowercase, and "Friday," because it is a specific day of the week, is going to be capitalized, and it's also a proper noun. Here are some additional examples of how we would convey this in sentences whenever we're capitalizing proper nouns.

Rule number four is avoiding using apostrophes when we're creating plurals. A common mistake we tend to see mostly on the TE's is whenever we're adding an apostrophe to pluralize a noun. For instance, it's incorrect to write "They have two cars" with an apostrophe, or "They have cats and dogs" where we apostrophize the cats and we apostrophize the dogs. The correct approach is simply to just add S to the end of the noun, like we see in "They have two cars" and "I love cats and dogs" without the apostrophe, like we see with.

Rule number five: Apostrophes serve two main purposes: to form a contraction and to indicate possession. Take, for example, "don't know," which is just another way of saying "do not know." "Don't" is a contraction for "do not," where two words are combined with an apostrophe replacing the omitted "o." Similarly, "you're" is another contraction, which stands for "you are." We simply add an apostrophe where we omit the "a." Contractions streamline sentences by merging words and using apostrophes to signify omitted words, as seen in "he's in a bad mood," where "he's" stands for "he is." In addition to contractions, apostrophes show possession, illustrating ownership. For instance, "Jack's new car is beautiful" utilizes an apostrophe and S to demonstrate that the new car belongs to Jack. "My teacher's new wife is really nice" uses an apostrophe to indicate that the wife is married to the speaker's teacher, signifying a possessive relationship.

Rule number six dictates all questions or interrogative sentences must conclude with a question mark. Therefore, whenever you pose a question, it's essential to punctuate it with a question mark at the end. For instance, "Do you like pizza?" "Are you tired?" "Should we go to the movies tonight?" Each of these examples are questions, and as such, requires a question mark to signal its interrogative nature.

Rule number seven emphasizes the use of an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence to convey excitement, strong emotion, or urgency. An exclamation mark transforms the tone of a sentence, as seen in "Wow, you are beautiful!" Here, that exclamation mark amplifies the expression of excitement compared to the more subdued tone we would see if we ended it with a period. Exclamation marks are versatile, capable of expressing not only happiness and excitement, as we see with "I'm excited!" but also frustration and anger in statements like "That was a terrible choice!" They are equally useful in conveying urgency, for instance, "Be careful!" "Watch out!" This punctuation mark is also common in commands or imperative sentences, potentially adding emphasis or authority to directives like "Sit down!" Although a period could technically conclude these sentences, opting for the use of an exclamation mark is going to elevate the intensity of the emotion or command that is being communicated.

Rule number eight involves using commas to delineate items in a list comprising of three or more elements. For instance, when mentioning only two items, such as "I bought coffee and tea," no comma is necessary because it's only two distinct items. However, when the list expands to three or more items, commas come into play here, such as we see with "I bought coffee, tea, and milk." We need to make sure we add the comma behind each one of those examples: coffee and tea. The use of a comma just before the conjunction "and" or "or" in such a list is known as the Oxford comma. While some people do prefer to skip the Oxford comma, others advocate for its use, arguing that it enhances clarity by distinctly separating each item in a series. For the purposes of the AIT's, you will need to know and become accustomed to the Oxford comma in order to pass the English section of the TE's.

Rule number nine instructs the use of a comma to separate independent clauses when it is linked to a conjunction such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. An easy mnemonic to remember these conjunctions is FANBOYS. Keeping FANBOYS in mind helps you recall the necessary conjunctions to look out for. Let's consider the example: "I want to go out tonight, but I need to study." The original sentence without the comma is incorrect. In fact, "I want to go out tonight" and "I need to study" are both independent clauses; each are capable of standing alone as a complete sentence. Therefore, when these clauses are connected by a conjunction like we see with "but," the comma is indeed necessary to precede the conjunction, making it: "I want to go out tonight, but I need to study." Another example could be: "He is a doctor, and she is a lawyer." This is again incorrectly punctuated since "He is a doctor" and "She is a lawyer" are both independent clauses joined by the conjunction "and." We need to make sure that we add the comma before our conjunction "and" in order to make this correctly punctuated, turning the sentence into: "He is a doctor, and she is a lawyer."

Rule number 10 highlights the use of the semicolon to link closely related independent clauses, which are essentially complete sentences on their own. For instance, the sentence "I love coffee; you love tea" is elegantly combined by the semicolon. "I love coffee; you love tea." This alternative stands alongside the possibility of either separating them into two distinct sentences or linking them with a comma followed by a conjunction, like we saw with "I love coffee, and you love tea," or "I love coffee. You love tea." Additional examples could be: "Calvin is a teacher; Jennifer is a nurse." "Michael doesn't like seafood; he prefers pasta." These instances demonstrate how semicolons effectively connect two independent clauses that are closely related in context, offering a nuanced way of conveying related ideas within a single compound sentence.

Rule number 11 focuses on colons to introduce a list of items. For instance, in the sentence "They serve many types of food: Chinese, Indian, and American," the colon is employed to connect the independent clause "They serve many types of food" with a subsequent list of Chinese, Indian, and American. Similarly, in the statement "There are three things every child needs: education, food, and family," it employs that same knowledge. The colon links the independent clause preceding it with the list that follows. The use of the colon is an example that underscores its role in seamlessly transitioning from a complete thought to a detailed enumeration of a list.

Rule number 12 dictates the use of hyphens to merge two or more words functioning together as a single adjective preceding a noun. For instance, phrases like "well-known author," "kind-hearted woman," "brand-new television," and "chocolate-covered peanuts" illustrate this principle. The hyphen effectively combines words that form a unified adjective that describes the following noun.

In Rule 13, we use a hyphen to compound numbers that should hyphenate compound numbers between 21 and 99. Examples of this could be 21, 42, 99. You wouldn't hyphenate the word "twenty" because it's a word all by itself, but if you want to hyphenate the word "twenty-three," you would hyphenate "twenty" and "three" to make it a compound number. So, classic examples of this hyphenation could be "I have 99 problems," where we hyphenate the 99, or "She is 42 years old," where we hyphenate 42.

So, let's take a look at some examples of how things are incorrectly punctuated. So, first, we have "my birthday is in December." Well, we have a couple things wrong here. The M in "my" is not capitalized. Anytime we start a sentence, we want to make sure that we start with a capital letter. And "December" is a proper noun; it's a specific month, so you also want to capitalize the D in "December." In our next example, "Julie loves cats, Michael loves dogs." Well, we could fix this one of two ways. We can use a semicolon after "Julie loves cats" and "Michael loves dogs" to make sure that we are independently showing that these are two independent clauses, or we could keep the comma and simply add a conjunction like "and," which it would become "Julie loves cats, and Michael loves dogs." Example three: "I went to the supermarket and bought cheese, eggs, and ham." As we can see here, we have a list of items, three or more, and we need to make sure that we employ the Oxford comma by adding a comma behind "cheese" and a comma behind "eggs," making it correctly punctuated. "Charles is 29 years old." 29 is a compound number, so in order to make this correct, we need to add a hyphen between the word "twenty" and "nine" to show that it's a compound number. "I want to go to the beach, but I think it's going to rain soon." Again, we have our conjunction here, "but," but we don't have the comma before it. So, in order to make this correct, we need to add that comma before our coordinating conjunction, making it: "I want to go to the beach, but I think it's going to rain soon." Our next example is "Are you angry?" Well, it doesn't really sound like a declarative sentence; it sounds like an interrogative sentence. So, in order to make this one correct, we want to add a question mark to the end of that sentence so that the reader knows we're asking a question: "Are you angry?" "We bought two new cars." Again, we don't want to add an apostrophe after the word "cars" to make it a plural. So, we simply just add the word "cars" without the apostrophe, making that now correctly punctuated. And lastly, we have "you're a great guy." This does look correct; however, we're missing the apostrophe in our contraction for "you are." So, we need to add that apostrophe in between the U and the R to highlight that we have omitted the "a."

Another important concept is knowing when to use direct or indirect quotes. Direct quotes capture the exact words of the speaker, enclosed in quotation marks to highlight the verbatim speech. In the example, "If Stephanie expresses, 'I am learning a new topic,' we use quotation marks to quote her precise words directly." In contrast, indirect quotes paraphrase the speaker's original message without using any exact wording or quotation marks. Instead, we convey what was said, typically introducing the statement with "that" and often shifting the verb to its past tense form. This example adds the word "that," like we see with indirect quotes, and it also changes the verb to the past tense, which would be "was."

Parts of speech play a crucial role when it comes to forming grammatically correct sentences, each serving a unique function within a structure. Beginning with verbs, these words depict actions or experiences. For example, verbs like "run," "walk," "push," or "eat" illustrate this point. In the sentence, "Lola ran to school because she was late," "ran" operates as the verb, indicating the action that Lola took. Similarly, "John loves to bake cookies." "Bake" is the verb describing what John enjoys doing. A noun identifies a person, place, object, or idea. Examples can include "house," "teacher," "cup," and "shop." In the sentence, "My instructor is a very nice person," "instructor" serves as the noun, signifying a person. In the sentence, "Tai is going to go on vacation to China," there are actually two nouns: we have "Tai," which is a personal name, and "China," which represents a geographical location. An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by providing additional detail and description, such as when we use examples like "short," "beautiful," "red," or "old." In the sentence, "Julie has a huge house with six bedrooms," "huge" acts as the adjective, offering a description of Julie's house. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by indicating how often, how, where, or when. Examples can include "slowly," "yesterday," and "always." In the sentence, "Lola is always late for school," "always" serves as the adverb, indicating the frequency of Lola's tardiness. It's also worth mentioning that "late" can function as both an adverb and an adjective. In the phrase "last night I slept really well," "last night" acts as the adverbial phrase, specifying the time when the action occurred. A pronoun is a word that substitutes the name of a person, place, object, or concept within a sentence. Examples can include "I," "she," "our," "they," and "it." For instance, in the sentence, "Becky is my friend; she always helps me with my homework," "she" is used as a pronoun, taking the place of Becky. In "You can visit the shopping center at 1:00," "you" serves as the pronoun, referring to the person being addressed. An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or surprise and is frequently accompanied by an exclamation point. Examples could be "wow" or "oh." In the example, "Wow, the view is amazing!" "wow" functions as the interjection, indicating a reaction of amazement. In "Hey, I haven't seen you in a long time," "hey" is the interjection used to greet or attract attention. A conjunction links words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence and uses words like "and," "but," "although," and "or." For instance, in "I like to watch television and eat popcorn," "and" serves as the conjunction connecting the two activities. In "My friend is very loud, whereas I am very quiet," "whereas" acts as the conjunction, contrasting the two different characteristics. Prepositions indicate location, time, or direction and are placed before a noun or a pronoun. Examples include "under," "above," "in," or "during." In the sentence, "The cat jumped over the box," "over" functions as the preposition, specifying the direction the cat jumps relative to the box. In "Get into the car quickly before you're late to school," "into" is the preposition describing the movement towards being inside the car.

Next, let's talk about subjects, predicates, and modifiers. The subject and predicate are two essential components of a complete sentence, which is divided into two main parts: the subject, which is the naming part, and the predicate, which is the telling part. To indicate how a subject and predicate work together to form a complete sentence, let's delve a little bit deeper. The subject, or the naming part, identifies who or what the sentence is focusing on. For example, in "Angel played football," the question "Who is the sentence about?" points to "Angel," who is the subject, highlighting that the sentence revolves around Angel. Similarly, in "The watermelon is green," asking about the subject of the sentence reveals "the watermelon" is the subject, indicating that the sentence is concerning this watermelon. The predicate forms the second essential element of a sentence, detailing the actions or the state of the subject. In similar terms, it explains the activities or conditions associated with that subject. For example, consider the sentence "Mr. Smith lost his dog." The segment "lost his dog" reveals Mr. Smith's action: what did he do? He lost his dog, which serves as the predicate. Similarly, in the sentence "A bee buzzed around me," "buzzed around me" functions as the predicate, as it describes what the bee is doing. To construct a complete sentence, you must include both the subject and the predicate. Missing one means that the thought remains incomplete. For instance, with only the subject, "The pig," the statement lacks clarity about the pig's actions or characteristics. Was the pig small and adorable, or did the pig leap into a mud puddle? Without further information, it's really impossible to tell. Likewise, a lone predicate, "deep and cold," leaves us guessing what the subject is. Could it refer to the ocean's depth and chill, or perhaps it's talking about the Wicked Witch of the West's heart? Who knows? These examples show the necessity of combining both the subject and the predicate to form a coherent and complete sentence. A modifier is a word or phrase that provides additional details about another word or phrase. Take the simple example "I have a truck." By introducing a modifier, it becomes "I have a gray truck." Here, "gray" serves as the modifier, enriching the noun "truck" with descriptive detail. Both adjectives, like "gray" in this example, and adverbs can act as modifiers.

Next, let's talk about complements. There are two primary types of complements: we have subject complements and object complements. Subject complements can be broken down into three parts: a noun that renames the subject, an adjective that describes the subject, or it follows a linking verb that connects it to the subject. For example, in "Melissa is a teacher," "teacher" is a noun that serves to rename the subject "Melissa," making it a subject complement. And "He is handsome." "Handsome" is an adjective describing "he," thereby functioning as a subject complement. And "She is respected by her students." "Respected" is an adjective that describes "she," indicating again that this is a subject complement. An object complement can be a noun, adjective, or phrase that provides additional details about the direct object and typically follows it in the sentence. For instance, in "They call Melissa genius," "genius" is an adjective that describes the direct object "Melissa," making it an object complement. Similarly, "They find him intelligent." "Intelligent" features as an adjective describing "him," thus making this an object complement. And "They consider her admirable." The adjective "admirable" describes "her," identifying it as an object complement. It's important to remember that a subject complement renames or describes the subject, and an object complement enhances the understanding of our direct object.

We talked a lot about independent versus dependent clauses. Now let's see how we break them down so we can further that understanding. A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. So, starting with independent clauses, it's exactly what it sounds like. An independent clause is a complete thought; it leaves no room for interpretation. In our example, "The cat is sleeping." "Cat" is our subject, and "sleeping" is our verb, and it's also a complete thought: "The cat is sleeping." Got it? Whereas with a dependent clause, we need more information in order to complete it as a complete sentence. In our example, "When the cat is sleeping," we know "the cat" is a subject, "sleeping" is our verb, but it's not a complete thought. "When the cat is sleeping," what? What happens to the cat? Do they get a restful sleep? Does somebody wake them up? What happens to the cat when they're sleeping? A big tip when you're taking your TE's is usually when we're looking at a dependent clause, we're going to see a subordinating conjunction plus an independent clause, making it ultimately a dependent clause. So, in our example, "when the cat is sleeping," "when" is actually our subordinating conjunction. Some additional examples of these subordinating conjunctions that you might see on the TE's is "since," "when," "if," "while," "because," "who," "that," "which," "as," "although," "whether," "until," "unless," "in case," and "even though." These are most commonly seen. So, if you're trying to figure out the difference between independent and dependent clauses, if you see this subordinating conjunction prior to your independent clause, you can automatically assume that it is a dependent clause.

Next, let's talk about simple, compound, and complex sentences. So, starting with simple sentences, it is one independent clause, which means we are only going to have one subject, one verb, and it is going to be a completed thought. In our example, "Grace opened the door." "Grace" is our subject, and "opened" is our verb. It's a completed thought: "Grace opened the door." Fantastic, got it? Next, we have a compound sentence, and what compound sentences do is they link two or more independent clauses together by joining them with a coordinating conjunction. We talked earlier about FANBOYS; that's an easy mnemonic for you to remember the most common kinds of coordinating conjunctions you'll see on the TE's. F stands for "for," A stands for "and," N stands for "nor," B stands for "but," O stands for "or," Y stands for "yet," and S stands for "so." So, in our example, we have "Grace opened the door, and she looked outside." "Grace opened the door" is our first independent clause, just like we saw with our simple example. We have the comma and the word "and," which is our conjunction, and then another independent clause: "she looked outside." So, again, a compound sentence is when we're linking them together. We're going to have a comma in between those two independent clauses, and we have to have a coordinating conjunction after that first complete thought, our independent sentence, in order for it to be considered a compound sentence. So, lastly, we have complex sentences. This is a combination of one independent clause and one dependent clause. Remember, dependent clauses are not a complete thought; they cannot stand on their own; you have to have additional information in order to complete it. So, in this example, you're going to see comma use, but no coordinating conjunction examples. For example, "When he won the award, everyone cheered." "Everyone cheered" is our independent clause; it's a complete thought. And "When he won the award" is actually our dependent clause. Remember, whenever we have any kind of subordinating conjunctions starting a sentence, we know that it's most likely going to be a dependent clause. So, again, "When he won the award," our subordinating conjunction "when" plus "he won the award" is our independent clause. "Everyone cheered" is our independent clause because it is a complete thought. So, let's take a look at some examples. "Lola knew lots about elephants." This is a simple sentence. We have our subject "Lola," we have the verb "knew," and it forms a complete thought: "Lola knew lots about elephants." Next, we have "Although Calvin is running late, he seemed relaxed." This is actually a complex sentence. We have "he seemed relaxed," which is an independent clause, and we have "although Calvin was running late" being our dependent clause. It starts with a subordinating conjunction "although" and finishes off with "Calvin was running late." So, anytime we have a subordinating conjunction and a thought, it's usually going to be a dependent clause. So, yes, this is an example of a complex structure sentence. And then, lastly, we have "He was hungry, so he ate." Again, a compound sentence. We have the subject "he," which is actually seen twice in this sentence, and we have our verbs "was" and "ate," and we have our conjunction "so." So, "He was hungry," comma, "so," which is our conjunction, "he ate," making this a compound sentence.

Lastly, we're going to talk about direct and indirect objects within sentences. Objects can be categorized into two types: direct objects, which directly receive the action, and indirect objects, which are recipients of the direct object or action that is being done. So, a direct object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that directly experiences the action of the verb. It answers the questions "what," "who," and "whom" regarding what is receiving the action. So, for example, in the sentence "Bobby threw pebbles at the pond," asking "What did Bobby throw?" leads to the answer "Pebbles," making "Pebbles" the direct object. So, in a sentence featuring a direct object, the presence of an indirect object is optional. Take, for example, "I received the parcel." When asking "What did I receive?" the answer is "parcel," indicating that "parcel" is the direct object. This sentence does not contain an indirect object, illustrating that it is a direct object that is present. An indirect object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that is the recipient of the direct object or action that is done. It responds to questions like "at whom," "to whom," "for whom," and "from whom," and is often follows a preposition. Another important thing to know is that an indirect object cannot exist without a direct object in the sentence. For example, "She passed the ball to Kathy." Asking "To whom was the ball passed?" reveals "Kathy" as the indirect object, indicating that the action is intended for Kathy because it is positioned after the preposition "to."

So, let's talk about the differences between complete and incomplete sentences. What exactly is a sentence fragment? So, a sentence fragment occurs when essential parts of a sentence are missing, resulting in an incomplete sentence. For a sentence to be considered complete and whole, it needs to have both a subject and a predicate. The subject tells you what or who the sentence is about, and the predicate explains what the subject is doing or being. Consider the sentence "Roses are red." Here, "roses" is the subject of what we are discussing, and "are red" is the predicate; it describes what the subject is doing or how it is. Since this sentence includes both a subject and a predicate, it qualifies as a complete sentence.

Next, let's examine more sentence fragments and learn how we can transform them into complete sentences. In our example, "Drinks coffee every morning." Something is missing from the sentence. What part of our sentence is absent? Well, that's right, we're missing the subject. Who is who's drinking coffee every morning? If we add the subject "Mr. Chong," it becomes a complete sentence: "Mr. Chong drinks coffee every morning." Let's take a look at the following sentences and figure out what's wrong with them. The first one we have is "American geese." Well, we have a subject, but we don't have a predicate. So, in this case, we could say "American geese fly south for the winter." By adding "fly south for the winter," it gives us a predicate; it's telling us what the geese are doing. "American geese fly south for the winter," making it a complete sentence. Next, we have "slept in the tent." In this case, we have a predicate; we know what's happening; we just don't have a subject. Who is sleeping in the tent? If we add the subject "he," it gives us our subject, and now we can combine that with our predicate: "He slept in the tent," making it a complete sentence. In our last example, "the bedroom."

In this case, we have a subject. We know we're speaking of the bedroom, but we have no predicate. What about the bedroom? What is being done, and what is its characteristic? By adding the predicate "is clean," we can now form a complete sentence. The bedroom, which is our subject, is clean, which is our predicate.

As always, there are always exceptions to the rule. In an imperative sentence or command, the subject is not required. When giving a command or instruction to someone, the subject is implicitly understood. Here are several examples of imperative sentences or commands that lack explicit subjects, yet they're still considered complete sentences. These can include: "Stop it," "Go straight," "Put your shoes on," "Turn off the light." While these sentences only contain predicates, they are complete because they function as commands.

We talked extensively about transition words throughout reading and English. Understanding how transition words are used on the AIT is going to be very important when you're taking your test. So, what are transitions? Transitions are words, phrases, or sentences that link one idea to another, facilitating a smooth flow between thoughts and reducing reader confusion. Without clear transitions, writing can appear disjointed and fail to convey the connections between sentences and paragraphs. In this section of the TE's, you will need to be familiar with agreement, opposition, cause/effect, examples, conclusions, chronology, and location transition words. These are some common examples of what the AITs has deemed as the most important transition words to know for your test.

Next, let's talk about verb tenses. The verb tense indicates the time when an action described by the verb takes place. There are nine verb tenses you will need to know for the T's, organized into past, present, and future, each further divided into three categories: simple, perfect, and progressive.

Starting with past simple, this tense describes the actions that have already occurred. The structure typically involves the subject plus the verb in past form. For example, "I walk to work today." This construction clearly places the action in the past.

With past perfect, this tense is used to describe an action that was completed before another action in the past. The typical structure consists of the subject followed by the word "had" followed by the verb in its past form. An example of this could be, "He had visited China." A big key memory tip when it comes to perfect tense verbs is you're always going to see the word "has," "has," "have," and "had." When you're reading the sentences, if you can identify one of these three words in the sentence, and the question is asking about perfect tense, then you're automatically going to be ahead of the game.

Lastly, we have past progressive tense. This tense describes an ongoing action in the past, which may have been interrupted by another event. The structure consists of the subject followed by "was" or "were" plus the verb ending in "-ing." For example, "We were walking home when I got the call." This sentence shows that the action of walking home is ongoing when the call was received. Another thing that's important to know is whenever we have progressive past tenses, you are going to see the words "was," "were," and "will" plus the verb and "-ing." There are certain instances when we would use "was," "were," and "will." So, if the subject is "I," "she," "he," or "it," we use the progressive tense "was." If the subject is "we," "they," and "you," we use the progressive tense "were."

Next, let's move on to our present tenses. So, starting with present simple tense, this tense is used to describe actions, habits, or facts that are generally true and occur regularly in the present. The structure typically involves the subject plus the verb in its present form. An example of this could be, "I" (which is the subject) "walk" (which is the verb in present form) "to work every day." This sentence indicates a habitual action that takes place in the present. It's important to understand that whenever we have a subject like "I," "you," "we," and "they," we do not add an "s" to the end of our verb. However, if the subject is "she," "he," and "it," we do add the "s" to the end of our verb. So, if we say "I walk," "you work," "we go," "they visit," it would be different than saying "she walks," "he works," or "it goes." Make sure that you know the difference for that when it comes to the TE's.

Present perfect tense. When we're talking about this one, the tense describes an action that has occurred once or several times before the present moment. The structure of this kind of sentence will be the subject plus "have" or "has," and the verb is going to remain in past form. That is the biggest key indicator I can give you whenever we're talking about perfect tense is that verb, no matter which one we're talking about (past, present, or future), is always going to remain in past form. So, in this example, we have "they" (which is our subject) "have traveled" (which "have" is our perfect present tense, "traveled" is our verb in its past form) "to China twice." This sentence indicates that the action of traveling to China has happened in the past and is relevant to the present. Typically, when the subject is "I," "we," "you," and "they," we're going to use "have." And when we have the subject "she," "he," and "it," we're going to use the word "has."

And then, lastly, we have present progressive tense. This tense is used to describe the action that is currently ongoing. The structure includes the subject plus "am," "is," or "are," and the verb ending in "-ing." So, like we saw before, we have a different set of words that we're going to have to remember. So, for present progressive tense, "am," "is," and "are" are going to be the most common words that you're going to see. If the subject is "I," then we use the word "am." If the subject is "she," "he," or "it," we're going to use the word "is." And if the subject is "we," "you," and "they," we're going to use the word "are." So, like we see in our example, "I" (which is the subject) "am" (which is our present progressive tense) "studying" (which is our verb plus "-ing") "for the exam" is a great example of a present progressive tense.

And lastly, we're going to look at all of our future tenses. Starting with future simple tense, this tense is used to describe actions that have not yet occurred. There are three structures when forming future simple tense. With structure one, we have the subject plus "am/is/are going to" plus our verb. So, an example of this could be, "I am going to the store." Structure two's format is the subject plus "am/is/are" plus the verb ending in "-ing." This example could be, "I am starting my TE's course this week." And then our last structure is the subject plus "will" or "shall" and the verb. "We will take our TE's on Thursday."

And next up, we have future perfect tense. So, this tense is used to describe an action that will have been completed by a specific future time. The structure will consist of the subject plus "will have" and the verb is going to be in its past tense form. An example of this could be, "They will have arrived in China by now." This sentence indicates that the action of arriving in China is expected to be completed before the current time.

Then, lastly, we have future progressive tense. This tense describes an action that will occur over a period of time in the future. The structure for this includes the subject plus "will be" plus the verb ending in "-ing." "She will be moving into a new house next month." This indicates that the action of moving is going to take place and be ongoing at a future time.

Understanding diction is crucial when we are trying to excel at the AIT's exam. While diction is initially seen to simply refer to distinctive vocabulary choices and styles of expression used by the author and the speaker, it really actually encompasses multiple layers and facets. Good writers utilize diction to influence the tone and complexity of the text, making it formal and sophisticated or informal and relaxed. Diction also contributes to the strength or weaknesses of the text and can even help identify the speaker. Think of Shakespeare, for example.

Let's use "Chubby," my mult puppy, to illustrate how diction can completely transform a sentence without altering its meaning. Consider the sentence: "Chubby enjoys walks in the park and naps in the sun." This uses simple diction, an informal voice, and weak word choice. Now, we can rephrase it to: "Chubby adores walks in the park and sun-soaked rests." Here, we're elevating that diction. It contains the same idea, but it uses a stronger vocabulary. And finally, consider: "Chubby frolics around the park and basks in both sun and slumber." Now, we've introduced more complex diction, a formal voice, and strong words that evoke vivid imagery, yet the underlying meaning remains unchanged. The key takeaway is that by altering the diction, you can transform the entire essence of a text. Comedians don't just merely share humorous anecdotes; they carefully select amusing words to enhance their storytelling. Writers don't just narrate sad tales; they meticulously craft each word to evoke sorrow and agony in a tragedy. Consider your favorite television drama. The writers employ climatic and sensational dialogue to establish the atmosphere. As you become more familiar with identifying the deliberate word choices made by speakers and writers, your analytical skills will significantly sharpen for the TE's.

Run-on sentences lack clarity due to missing punctuation or conjunctions. You can identify run-ons by spotting two independent clauses, which are essentially two complete thoughts that each contain a subject and a verb and can stand alone as separate sentences. If you encounter a sentence where two independent clauses are crammed together without any conjunction or proper punctuation, you're likely looking at a run-on sentence. To fix this, you can do one of two things: you can divide it into two distinct sentences, or you can insert the necessary punctuation and conjunctions to properly connect the clauses.

Let's analyze the example: "Sue was out of the sugar she needed to make cookies she had to go to the grocery store to get some." This sentence lacks the rhythm and pauses that help the reader understand the text. It includes two complete sentences: one, "Sue was out of sugar she needed to make cookies," and two, "She had to go to the grocery store to get some." These two independent clauses can stand as separate sentences, but we can also improve the original sentence by adding suitable conjunctions and punctuations. So, for example: "Sue was out of sugar she needed to make cookies, so she had to go to the grocery store to get some." Now, with the addition of the conjunction and the comma, the sentence is not only technically correct, but it also reads easier. We can also just separate the sentences by adding a period. So, "Sue was out of sugar she needed to make cookies. She had to go to the grocery store to get some" would also be another way of separating this run-on sentence.

So, what is narrative writing? A narrative is a form of writing that tells a story that may be crafted to motivate, educate, or entertain the reader. Narratives can encompass both factual and fictional elements. We're going to dive deeper into narrative structures that consist of characters, settings, conflicts, climax, and resolution.

So, what is a character? A character is an entity that performs an action or speaks within the story. For instance, "Emily was browsing through a book when she explains, 'This is fascinating.'" Or, "The dolphin was leaping up out of the water." In these examples, Emily and the dolphin are both characters within our narrative writing.

What is a setting? A setting refers to a time and place for the story unfolds. It can be either fictional or non-fictional and may vary throughout the story. For instance, "The story begins on a sunny spring afternoon in a bustling city park where children are playing." Here, the sunny spring afternoon describes the time, and the bustling city park describes the location of the story.

So, what is a conflict? A conflict in a story is a challenge or an issue that's going to impact the characters or the setting, driving that narrative forward. For example, "During a pivotal soccer game, the star player sprained his ankle, putting the championship at risk." This situation creates a significant problem in the story.

A climax is a point in the story where tension and action reaches its highest intensity. So, for example, "In the final moment of the soccer game, with the team trailing by one goal, the injured star player decides to re-enter the game despite his sprained ankle." This is the moment where the problem and the stakes are at its highest, making it the climax.

And then, lastly, a resolution is a conclusion of the story where the conflict is resolved. So, for example, "The team won the soccer game. The team celebrates its hard-won championship, and the players' gamble paid off." This brings a satisfying end to our story.

So, what's the difference between formal and informal language? Initially, consider your audience. Who are you communicating to? Formal language is more appropriate language for professional and significant situations, such as giving a presentation at work, speaking with your colleagues, or writing a formal letter to your boss. On the other hand, informal language is suited for more casual interaction, such as conversations with family and close friends, texting, and writing a personal email or letter.

So, let's explore the distinction between these two types of language. Formal language typically utilizes complete sentences with correct grammar and vocabulary, while informal language often features shorter sentences with less stringent grammatical rules and simpler vocabulary. Contractions, which are abbreviated forms of words when an apostrophe replaces missing letters, are generally avoided in formal language but are commonly used in informal texts. For example, in formal settings, one might say, "I would rather." As in informal settings, the contraction "I'd" would be acceptable. Idioms, which are figurative expressions unique to a language, are usually not used in formal language but can be freely used in informal communication. Additionally, formal writing often employs the passive voice to sound more objective or impersonal, as in, "The TE's application form is complete." In contrast, informal language tends to use active voice, such as, "I completed the TE's application form." Phrasal verbs consist of verbs combined with a preposition or adverb, and they often take on meanings different from the individual words by themselves. While phrasal verbs are commonly used in informal language, they are typically avoided in formal language. Instead, formal context calls for more direct synonyms that convey the same meaning. For example, in an informal setting, you might use the phrasal verb "look into," which means to investigate or research something. Abbreviations, which are shortened forms of words, are not used in formal language but are acceptable in informal contexts. Similarly, exclamation marks, which add emphasis or express strong emotion, are typically reserved for informal language and are generally avoided in formal writing. Lastly, we have imperative sentences, which are sentences that start with a verb and usually give a command or instruction and are often found in informal language. In contrast, formal language usually employs more structured and polite forms of requests in order to convey instructions.

When you're revising a formal text to make it more informal, it's about simplifying your language. It's best to replace complex words and phrases with simpler, everyday language. You can use contractions when it's possible and don't shy away from first-person and second-person pronouns. In contrast, when you're revising informal language to more formal language, focus on eliminating any kind of slang, contractions, or casual phrases, as well as casual pronouns like "you" and "we." Replace these with more complex vocabulary, formal phrases, and third-person pronouns when appropriate. You also want to make sure that your sentences are grammatically correct, as well as complete.

So, some examples of this could be: If we have an informal phrase, "We didn't get the stuff you asked for, sorry." We can make it more formal: "We regret to inform you that we were unable to procure the items you requested." And then, if we're going in the opposite direction, starting with a formal phrase: "The director submitted his resignation following the recent allegations." We can make it informal by saying, "The boss quit after these recent rumors."

You're going to find that the TE's is going to test you on the same information over several sections of the test. We talked extensively about topic, main idea, supporting details, and summary in our "Reading Key IDs and Details" video. Here's a recap of the information that you were going to need to know when it comes to the English section of the TE's with these various topics.

First up, we have the topic sentence, which can be found as the first sentence in every paragraph on the TE's. Here's a key point: you can often answer many exam questions just by reading the topic sentences. The rest is just elaboration, but pay close attention to supporting details if they are asked and when they are needed on the TE. Supporting details will align with the topic sentence in that same paragraph. So, for a question that's asking about supporting details, you want to read the paragraph with the topic sentence that the question is asking about, and then choose the answer that is going to best fit based on that topic. You're going to have to do a little bit of practice in order to tie that information together.

Next up, we have the main idea, and this is essentially the thesis statement. Think of it as the core message that the paragraph is trying to convey. You're often going to find it as the last sentence in the first paragraph. So, if a question asks you about the main idea of the passage, quickly go to that last sentence of your first paragraph, mark your answer, and move on, because as you know, we don't have a whole lot of time to answer these questions on the TE's.

And then, lastly, we have summary. So, think about it: when you were back in school and you had to summarize an essay, you usually begin with a conclusion or a restatement of your thesis. Similarly, a passage's summary is typically found as the first sentence in the last paragraph. Again, if you get a question about a passage's summary, go to that first sentence in the last paragraph, mark your answer, and move on.

Next, we're going to explore logical order in paragraphs. We're going to see three different kinds of orders: we're going to see chronological order, spatial order, and order of most importance. With chronological order, this method is particularly useful when detailing a sequence of events. Consider the process of cooking a meal: you start by shopping for ingredients like vegetables and oil, then you're going to prepare and mix the ingredients, and finally, serve the dish. Similarly, when writing about any sequence of events, we maintain a clear order because it is crucial in order to maintain clarity and coherence in the writing. Time order words, also known as chronological transitions, such as "first," "later," "after that," "then," "next," and "finally," aid writers in structurally organizing their ideas in a paragraph using a sequential manner. In terms of punctuation, a comma is typically placed after these time order words when we start a sentence. Chronological order words are essential for various purposes, including describing the history of an event, narrating an experience in a story, explaining how to perform or create something, or outlining the steps in a process. It's important to note that chronological order is predominantly used in expository writing. This is a style where the writer may narrate, describe, and inform, as well as explain a process.

So, let's take a look at our example: "Emma maintains a specific routine on Sunday evenings." That's our topic sentence. "First, she washes the dishes after lunch. Later, she sweeps the kitchen and her room. Then, she removes the dust from the TV, cupboards, and furniture surfaces. After that, she cleans the yard and waters the plants. Next, she irons her clothes and takes a bath. And finally, she goes out with her friends and stays out late." This sequence clearly illustrates the use of chronological order to organize events in a logical and easy-to-follow manner.

Order of importance is a method commonly used for persuasion, convincing arguments, and ranking items by their significance or benefit. Depending on the type of writing that you're going to see, you can choose to progress from the least important to the most important point, or begin with the most crucial point and work towards the less significant ones. For example, in persuasive essays, you're often going to lead with the most impactful statements, the most significant point, in order to grab the reader's attention right away and motivate them to continue reading. Now, let's consider the following paragraph, which is structured based on the order of importance: "The company operates with a straightforward management system. At the top, the president, who oversees the overall operation, makes all major decisions. Just below the president, the board handles daily decisions. Beneath the board members are the regional managers, who supervise the branch managers." "Most importantly," "almost as importantly," "just as importantly," and "finally" are some key transitional phrases that are used to effectively show the method of organization. These transitions help to clearly signal the hierarchy of points and arguments, guiding the reader through the structured flow of ideas.

And last up, we have spatial order. And this is used to structure paragraphs with specific goals, such as helping readers visualize a scene, engaging the senses like smell, sound, taste, touch, and sight. You're going to see this a lot with descriptive essays. The big memory trick here is that you will be using directional transition words. For instance, when we're describing items in a bedroom, we use spatial order. Essentially, you create a visual representation for the reader by choosing a starting point and then guiding them through the space as your description unfolds.

So, let's consider our example: "Attached to the wall of my bedroom is a small wooden rack adorned with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer upon entry." That is our starting point. "Just to the right of the rack is a window framed by billowy white curtains." "In sharp contrast to the peaceful image, to the right of the window area, my desk sits cluttered with textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray." "Turning my head further to the right, I notice two bare windows framing the outdoor trees, presenting them like a three-dimensional painting." "Below these windows rests an oak chest bulging with blankets and scarves." "Directly across from the fluttering curtains stands an antique dresser." "On top of the dresser are jewelry boxes and several picture frames in a tall mirror." "Next to them occupies most of the wall, painted a soft shade of lavender." When employing spatial order in your writing, consider using the following transitional phrases to clarify the arrangement and relationship of elements within the space: "just to the left," "just to the right," "behind," "between," "on the left or on the right," "across from," "a little further down," "to the South," "to the East," "a few yards away," "turning left," or "turning right." These transitions help readers navigate the spatial layout you're describing effectively, guiding them throughout the scene or the setting.

Unnecessary information in a text refers to any details or content that did not contribute to the main point or purpose of the writing. These extraneous elements can distract the reader, obscure the main idea, and make the text longer without adding any value. Effective writing should be concise and focused, meaning that removing unnecessary information helps to clarify and strengthen the message. For example, in our original text, we have: "Tom is an excellent graphic designer." This sentence is our topic sentence, our main point of the text. This means that everything following that sentence should provide supporting details about Tom being an excellent designer. So, let's keep reading: "He was born in 1989 in a small town of Maple Grove. He graduated from the University of Arts in 2011, where he studied many subjects, including graphic design, which is his passion. Tom loves to drink coffee and often goes to a cafe before work. He has won several awards for his innovative designs. Tom also enjoys hiking and photography during his weekends."

So, as we analyze this text, while the main focus should be on Tom's professional skills as a graphic designer, there were several details that did not contribute to the main points. So, if we were to remove that unnecessary information, the paragraph should be: "Tom is an excellent graphic designer. He graduated from the University of Arts in 2011, where he studied graphic design. He has won several awards for his innovative designs." We removed the sentences: "He was born in 1989 in a small town of Maple Grove," "Tom loves to drink coffee and often goes to a cafe before work," and "Tom also enjoys hiking and photography during his weekends." These sentences were ultimately removed because they do not directly relate to Tom's professional skills or accomplishments as a graphic designer, which is what the text should focus on. By removing these details, it helps keep the reader's attention on the key information about Tom's career and his achievements.

And lastly, we're going to talk about omitted information in a text. This refers to the pertinent details that were left out, either intentionally or unintentionally, leading to a potential lack of clarity or incomplete understanding of the topic. In some cases, the omission is strategic to streamline the content and keep the reader focused on key points. In other cases, it may unintentionally obscure the full content or necessary background that the reader needs to grasp in order to understand the subject fully.

So, let's take a look at our example: "Dr. Smith recommends that all her patients follow a specific diet to improve their heart health." So, automatically, the topic sentence is telling us that there are recommendations for a specific diet to improve heart health. The next sentence says: "This diet includes reducing sodium intake and increasing the consumption of whole grains." So, while this text is informative, it lacks detailed guidance on how to implement this diet effectively. Important specifics that might have been omitted could provide practical advice or even examples, making the recommendation more actionable. So, potential omissions could have been: specific daily or weekly sodium intake limits, examples of whole grains to include in the diet, additional dietary recommendations or restrictions, such as limiting saturated fats or increasing fruits and vegetables, and reasons why the diet helps improve heart health, including maybe lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. These could be a few of the things that were omitted. These omissions, if addressed, could make the advice more practical and motivate for better compliance.

Effective academic writing involves meticulous planning, drafting, and revising. Although the writing process varies from one individual to another, adhering to five fundamental steps can provide a structured approach when answering these types of questions on the AT CS.

Step one includes pre-writing. Selecting a topic in this stage is paramount. Optimal topics often stem from unresolved questions, offering perfect exploration for your writing. You can define a broad idea into a focused argument or inquiry. For instance, narrowing down a topic for an essay could progress as follows: you start with the idea of 19th-century literature, then you narrow it down to novels in the Romantic Period, narrowing down even further, we get the novels of Jane Austen, leading us to our ultimate topic of the theme of theater in Mansfield Park. With a clearly defined topic, the next steps involve stream of consciousness, brainstorming, and mind mapping.

Starting with stream of consciousness, this is a literary technique designed to capture the unfolding of the author's thoughts in a manner that mirrors reality. This approach incorporates elements like free association, writing down everything that comes to mind without worrying about grammar, punctuation, or even coherence, to deepen your grasp on the topic's psychological landscape as well as perspective. For instance, while heading to record this video, my thought process wouldn't be: "I'm walking into my office. When I get there, I'm going to say 'good morning, besties' to the camera and begin recording. I really hope it goes well." That's not really an accurate representation of what it is we think. A more accurate representation could be: "It's hot. Oh, these lights are so bright. I need to close my blinds. Why isn't my computer working? Why am I struggling getting the words out? Why are my dogs barking again? Every single time I do a live, my seat is really uncomfortable. Oh my gosh, I look so pale." That's actually a more accurate definition of stream of consciousness. It's just like writing down the words as they come to you.

Brainstorming involves a method of generating a wide range of ideas on a topic without immediate evaluation and is more structured in its approach. This process still encourages that free thinking and the exploration of any and all ideas as they come to you, no matter how unconventional that they may seem. For example, maybe your topic is climate change, and you start writing down any and all ideas that would come to mind that could possibly affect that climate change. Once all of that brainstorming is done, then you can move on to mind mapping, which is an even more structured form of brainstorming that visually organizes that information. You can start with a central idea or theme and expand outwards in a radial fashion, using lines, symbols, words, colors, and images that are going to connect to the related idea. If you've ever done a vision board, this is kind of what mind mapping actually is. Mind maps are particularly useful in visualizing relationships between different aspects of a topic, making complex information easier to understand and navigate.

Step two in the writing process is writing. You're going to create your first draft, and it doesn't have to follow a strict sequence. You might find it effective to start with the body of your text, leaving the introduction until later when you have a better understanding of what you're introducing. Leverage your outline as a structural guide for your writing. Begin crafting each paragraph methodically. Start with a topic sentence that's going to introduce the main idea of the paragraph. Next, you want to present evidence that's going to support that argument. Then, you want to explain and analyze that evidence. That's where we're going to start classifying all of those supporting details. And then, lastly, you want to conclude by summarizing what your analysis infers or proves. This can be the overall main idea of your passage. The primary objective in this phase is to complete a draft. With a draft in hand, you can focus on refining and enhancing your work afterwards.

Step three in the process, and the most commonly missed process, is conferencing. Writing conferences are collaborative meetings between writers and peers, as well as instructors. They discuss a piece of writing to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement. These conferences can occur at any stage within the writing process, from the initial planning all the way up to the final revisions. The focus is on constructive criticism with the goal of enhancing clarity, coherence, and overall impact of the writer's work. For example, a student might meet with their professor to discuss the first draft of a research paper. During this conference, the professor might highlight areas where arguments need some strengthening, suggest additional resources for the research, as well as identify sections that require clarification. The student will then use that feedback to refine their paper, making it more persuasive and polished. Writing conferences ultimately serve as an invaluable tool for writers seeking to develop their skills and produce more effective written communications.

Step four is the revision process. During this stage, you're going to turn a critical eye towards your initial draft to pinpoint areas ripe for enhancement. Allowing your draft to sit for a day or two after completion can help rejuvenate that viewpoint. During this phase, focus on identifying and addressing major concerns, such as arguments that lack clarity or logic, sections that could benefit from rearrangement for better coherence, and instances where further detail is necessary, or any content that does not contribute to the central thesis.

Our fifth and final step is editing. This step involves refining your text to ensure that there is clarity, structure, integrity, and error-free writing. During this editing phase, focus on eliminating grammatical mistakes, clarifying any kind of ambiguous expression, and reducing redundancy and repetition to achieve concise and grammatical sound text. This also includes checking for the use of American and British spelling and punctuation. Remember that the TE's is testing you on American spelling, as well as uniform capitalization in your titles and your headings. It's also important to remember to accurately cite your sources. It gives credit to the original authors, allowing readers to find the original source of information.

In science, we use the APA style for citations when we're referencing work. So, starting with in-text citations, this is a brief method of acknowledging the origin of the specific information, guiding the readers to matching the entry in the reference list of your documents. Conclusion: This citation typically includes the author's surname, the year of the publication, and when referencing a particular segment of a source, you may specify the page number or another identifier, like a timestamp, paragraph number, or heading. When the citation refers to the source in its entirety, page numbers are not necessary.

There are two methods when we embed in-text citations: parenthetical and narrative, also known as paraphrasing. In parenthetical citations, we enclose the author's name and the year of publication within parentheses. We position these details at the sentence's end, immediately preceding the period. Like we see in our example: "The author claims that the beta blockers are the best medications for hypertension." We put our parentheses, I'm sorry, our quotation marks around the actual phrase that came directly from the author, and then we put in parentheses: Smith, the year of publication, and even the page number if we're citing something specific in that author's writing.

In narrative citations or paraphrasing, we integrate some of the citation details directly into the text. In this approach, the year, and if applicable, the page number are going to be enclosed in parentheses. This can be immediately placed following the author's name within the sentence or at the sentence's conclusion, just before the final period. What makes this citation different is we don't use quotation marks because we're not immediately referring and verbally phrasing specifically what was in the text; we are paraphrasing. So, let's take a look at our example: "According to Smith (2022), research has shown that metoprolol is the best medication for hypertension based on the following statistics." This information is being paraphrased from what we found within Mr. Smith's information of his article. Same thing with our next example: "Smith states that research has shown that metoprolol is the best medication for hypertension based on the following statistics." And again, we're referencing work, so in our parentheses, we would put the year of the work as well as the page number.

For sources with two authors, we place the ampersand, which is this symbol here, between their names, followed by the publication year, like we see with "Chung & Taylor, 2024." For sources with three or more authors, mention only the first author's name, which would be "Chung," and then you're going to add "et al." period, comma, and then followed by the publication year in order for that to be correct.

So, when we're dealing with sources that lack certain crucial details, here's how we're going to navigate that situation in order to make sure that we're referencing appropriately. So, if the author's name is missing, but the responsible organization is known, for instance, "Nurse Chung," we would use that. So, we would use "Nurse Chung, 2024." Or maybe if we had the title, but we didn't know the organization, we could say "TE's Guide, 2024." If the source lacks a publication year, we use "n.d." to let us know that there is no date available. So, for direct quotes that lack a specific page number, we can use other identifiers. We can use a timestamp, which we would be "Chung, 2024, timestamp 2:01:13." We can use a chapter if we know that: "Chung, 2024, Chapter 4." Or if we know the paragraph number, we can also use that: "Chung, 2024, para. 3."

So, let's talk about prefixes and suffixes. What are they exactly? Simply put, a prefix is a segment of a word placed at the start of the word, and a suffix is added at the end of a word. It's crucial to note that not every word is going to be accompanied by a prefix or a suffix. Take, for instance, the word "dog," which does not feature either. Similarly, "chair" and "run" lack these additions despite being frequently used words. This highlights that prefixes and suffixes are applicable to certain words rather than universally across the language.

What's interesting is that prefixes and suffixes significantly alter the word meaning that they are affixed to. Take, for example, the word "like," which conveys a positive sentiment. By adding the prefix "dis-" to that word, it's going to transform it into "dislike," which is a reversal of that original sentiment. To dislike something is to imply a negative emotion toward it or a lack of affinity for it. Similarly, we have the word "happy." When we add the prefix "un-" it changes it to "unhappy," representing a state that is distinctly different from being happy. There are countless prefixes in the English language, but among them, the most common ones that you will see on the TE's is "dis-," "mis-," "un-," "re-," "pre-," "m-," and "n-."

Next, let's talk about suffixes. Let's consider the word "teach," which denotes the action of instructing. By adding the suffix "-able" to that word, it transforms the word into "teachable," changing its nature from an action to a characteristic. "Teachable" describes someone or something that can be taught, indicating their ability to learn. Another example could be "hope," which represents a concept or feeling. Adding the suffix "-ful" alters the word "hope" into "hopeful," which is an adjective that describes the state of being filled with hope. Some frequently encountered suffixes that you're going to see on the TE's are "-able," "-ism," "-ship," "-ness," "-ment," "-less," "-ly," and "-ous."

It's really important that you familiarize yourself with both these prefixes and these suffixes. You're also going to be tested on two different kinds of suffixes: you're going to have inflectional and derivational suffixes. Each type is going to play a different role in how they modify the base word for which they are added.

Inflectional suffixes change the form of the word to express different grammatical categories, such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, and case, without changing the actual meaning of the word. For example, adding the letter "s" to the end of "cat" makes it "cats," indicating that we have now made a plural. Thus, the word "cat" is still referring to the same animal; now we just happen to have more of them. Inflectional suffixes are limited to a small set, and they do not change the part of speech of the word.

Derivational suffixes modify the base word in more profound ways, often changing its meaning and typically its parts of speech. For example, adding the suffix "-less" to "fear" forms "fearless," which means without fear. Derivational suffixes can turn nouns into adjectives, verbs into nouns, and so forth. They can significantly alter the semantic meaning of the base word.

Now, there are some words that are formed by combining both a prefix and a suffix to the base word. Take the base word "respect," which conveys a concept of admiration and esteem. By adding the prefix "dis-" it changes the word to "disrespect," flipping its meaning to a significantly more negative concept, meaning that now we have a lack of respect. To further add, we can add the suffix "-ful," again changing "disrespect" to "disrespectful," which is an adjective describing someone or an action that shows a blatant lack of respect, perhaps manifesting in poor treatment of others.

For another illustration, we can use the base word "use," which signifies the action of employing something for a purpose. By adding the prefix "re-" to "use," it transforms the word into "reuse," indicating the action of using something again. We can also go further by adding the suffix "-able," so "reuse" becomes "reusable," shifting to a much different descriptive quality. Now we have an item that can be used more than once.

Now, let's do some examples of how to identify prefixes and suffixes. Starting with our first example, we have the word "painless." So, "pain" is actually our root word, and "-less" is the suffix in this word. Next up, we have "decision." So, that "-sion" that's on the end of "decision" is actually a suffix for the word "decision." Now, we have the word "remove." So, again, "move" is going to be our base word, and that "re-" at the beginning of "remove" is going to be our prefix. And just like with "remove," we have the same thing with "preview." So, "view" is going to be our root word, and that "pre-" here at the beginning of that is going to be our prefix. Next up, we have "enjoyable." So, "enjoy" would actually be the root word of this word, and that "-able" here on the end is going to be our suffix. Now, "replacement" can be a little bit tricky. So, with "replacement," we actually have a prefix and we have a suffix. So, "place" is actually our base word. "Re-" is going to be our prefix, and "-ment" is going to be our suffix. Next up, we have the word "window." So, this one's even more tricky. So, "window" is one of those words that you cannot attach a prefix or a suffix to, just like we talked about with the word "dog." So, in this case, we have neither a prefix or suffix. And then, lastly, we have "inactivity." Just like we saw with "replacement," we have both a prefix and a suffix with this word. "In-" is going to be our prefix, and "-ity" is going to be our suffix.

And lastly, let's talk about how we're going to determine word meaning. The TE's is going to test you on word meaning and definitions without providing you with the definition term. In order to understand words without context clues, you must break them down into their parts to decipher what they mean. A memory trick for this is to remember other words that have the same kind of parts that you might be familiar with in order to identify words that you're not.

So, imagine that you're reading or watching a video, and you encounter a new word like "disband." You might have no idea what this word means. So, we need to think about words with the same prefix and compare them. "Disband" has two parts: "dis-" and "band." Focusing on that first part, "dis-," think about words that you're familiar with that start with "dis-," like "disappear." You know that the prefix "dis-" means "not" or "opposite of," and "appear" means "to become visible." If we put these words together, what do we get? We get "disappear," which means "to stop being visible." From this, you can deduce that the prefix "dis-" often indicates a reversal or negation.

Now, let's consider the second part of the word, "band." You might immediately think about a rock band, which is a group of people that come together to make music. More broadly, "band" can be a group of people united for a common purpose. There's even the verb phrase "band together," meaning "to form a group." So, now that we've broken it down, can you guess what "disband" means? Exactly. "Disband" refers to a group of people deciding to no longer stay together. Thus, an organization or club might disband, signifying that they were once united but are now separate. Often, you can understand the meaning of words just by analyzing the parts that you know and applying the knowledge to a new word. In doing so, you become like a detective, figuring out the meaning of the word without resorting to a dictionary, and many times, your guesses are going to be correct.

And that is everything that you're going to need to know for this portion of the exam. Do not fall asleep on the English portion; it is going to be difficult, and it is going to be important for you to know. As always, if you have any additional questions, make sure that you leave them down below. I love answering your questions. Head over to nursethunchunk.com where there is a ton of additional resources in order to help you ace those AIT's exams. And as always, I'm going to catch you in the next video. Bye.