English Mastery / Grammar
The grammar that costs Bangla speakers half a band.
You do not need to learn "more grammar." You need to fix the same 12 patterns Bangla speakers get wrong in every essay. Once these are repaired, your writing jumps a full band — without any new vocabulary.
The 12 leaks
Each example pairs a typical Bangla-speaker error with the fix.
1. Missing articles
✗ Government should reduce traffic in Dhaka.
✓ The government should reduce traffic in Dhaka.
A specific institution → "the." A generic one of many → "a / an." Use both relentlessly; Bangla speakers under-use both.
2. Wrong preposition
✗ We discussed about the issue.
✓ We discussed the issue.
"Discuss" takes no preposition. Memorise verb + preposition as fixed pairs (depend on, agree with, listen to).
3. Plural -s forgotten
✗ Many student face this problem.
✓ Many students face this problem.
Bangla plurals do not need -s. English plurals after numbers, "many," "several," "few" always do.
4. Subject-verb agreement
✗ The list of items are long.
✓ The list of items is long.
The verb agrees with the head noun ("list"), not the nearer noun ("items").
5. Tense switching mid-paragraph
✗ Yesterday I go to market and bought fish.
✓ Yesterday I went to the market and bought fish.
Choose a tense per paragraph and stick with it. Time markers ("yesterday") lock the tense.
6. Run-on sentences
✗ Education is important it helps students get jobs and it improves society and it should be free.
✓ Education is important: it helps students get jobs, improves society, and should therefore be free.
When you write three "and"s in a row, you need a colon, semicolon, or full stop.
7. Double negatives
✗ I don't know nothing about it.
✓ I don't know anything about it.
English negatives only fire once per clause. Bangla allows double negatives; English does not.
8. "Much" vs "many"
✗ Many information was shared.
✓ Much information was shared.
Countable → many. Uncountable (information, advice, traffic, news, equipment) → much.
9. "People is" / "Police is"
✗ The police is investigating.
✓ The police are investigating.
"Police" and "people" are plural in English regardless of how Bangla treats them.
10. "Married with"
✗ She is married with a doctor.
✓ She is married to a doctor.
Married to. Engaged to. Related to. Bangla-speaker default to "with" — rewire it.
11. Wrong "since" / "for"
✗ I have lived in Dhaka since five years.
✓ I have lived in Dhaka for five years.
Since + a point in time (2019, Monday). For + a duration (five years, two weeks).
12. Comma splices
✗ I went to the office, it was closed.
✓ I went to the office, but it was closed.
Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone. Use a coordinator (and, but, so) or a full stop.
How to drill grammar without dying of boredom
Edit, don't memorise
Read aloud what you write
One rule per week
Use the AI tutor as a sparring partner
Quick reference: tenses Bangla speakers confuse
Present perfect vs simple past. "I have visited Cox's Bazar last year" is wrong — use simple past with a specific past time. "I have visited Cox's Bazar" (no time) is right.
Past continuous vs past simple. "I was eating when the phone rang." Two actions, one in progress, one interrupted. Don't say "I ate when the phone was ringing."
Will vs going to. "I will study tonight" is a decision made now. "I am going to study tonight" is a pre-existing plan. Examiners notice.
Conditionals. "If I would have time, I will come" is wrong. "If I have time, I will come" (likely future). "If I had time, I would come" (unlikely now).