Grammar Refreshers for XAT 2026 VA&LR: Key Concepts for Success

Preparing for XAT VA&LR? This article covers essential grammar refreshers, including tenses, subject-verb agreement, modifiers, connectors, and parallelism. Strengthen your basics, improve accuracy, and boost your XAT verbal performance with clear, exam-focused concepts.

Table of Contents

Key Grammar Concepts for XAT 2026 VA & LR
Tips to Improve Grammar for XAT 2026

Grammar Refreshers for XAT VA&LR: Key Concepts for Success

XAT's Verbal Ability section doesn’t just test your vocabulary; it tests your grammar understanding pretty heavily, too. A lot of students skip grammar prep, thinking they know it already, but the questions can get tricky, especially under time pressure. For spotting errors, sentence correction, or understanding sentence structure, having your grammar basics strong is important for XAT. You don't need to memorize every rule, but refreshing the key concepts will definitely help you score better. Let's go through the most important grammar topics you should focus on for XAT 2026 VA & LR.

Also Read: Top Recommended Books for XAT 2026 RC

Key Grammar Concepts for XAT 2026 VA & LR

XAT doesn't test every grammar rule out there, but it does focus on certain concepts that show up year after year. If you know these well, you'll be able to handle most of the grammar-based questions.

1. Parts of Speech

Knowing how words function helps you crack error-based questions fast.

Part of Speech	What You Need to Remember for XAT
Nouns	Countable vs uncountable matters in error spotting
Pronouns	Reference clarity - avoid ambiguity
Verbs	Tenses + subject - verb agreement questions
Adjectives & Adverbs	Many XAT errors come from incorrect placement
Prepositions	Fixed phrases like “depend on”, “capable of”, etc.
Conjunctions	Important for para-jumbles and sentence flow

2. Tenses & Timeline Clarity

XAT loves questions where the action timeline is slightly tricky. Practise Tenses thoroughly to ace this section.

Tense Problem in XAT	What You Should Do
Mixed timelines	Check if events match logically
Irrelevant tense shifts	Ensure tense doesn’t shift without reason
Perfect tenses	Used to show completed actions or dependencies

Example:

Incorrect: He completed the project when the manager arrives.
Correct: He completed the project when the manager arrived.

3. Subject-Verb Agreement

This is one of the most common XAT error spotting areas.

Rule	Quick Tip
Singular subject - singular verb	The list of topics is long.
‘Either/Neither’ - singular	Neither of them is coming.
Collective nouns	Look at the meaning: team is / people are
Indefinite pronouns	Everyone wants, each student is

4. Modifiers

The XAT exam sometimes checks if the modifier is placed correctly.

Problem	Easy Explanation
Dangling modifier	Modifier has no clear subject
Misplaced modifier	Placed far from the word it modifies

Example:

Incorrect: Running to the bus, the rain started.
Correct: Running to the bus, I felt the rain start.

5. Parallelism

In XAT, parallelism helps identify faulty sentence structure.

Parallelism Type	Example
Noun-noun	He likes music and sports.
Verb-verb	She writes and edits stories.
Phrase-phrase	He is good at drawing and painting.

6. Active-Passive Voice

You don’t have to “study” this too much. Just remember the following info.

Voice	When It’s Used
Active	More direct, used in precise statements
Passive	Used to highlight an object or when the doer is unknown

7. Sentence Connectors & Logical Flow

This helps you in both grammar and LR-based para-jumbles. Common connectors in XAT include,

Connector	Purpose
However	Contrast
Therefore	Result
Moreover	Addition
Despite	Limitation
Although	Unexpected contrast

8. Common Confusable Words

These can appear in error spotting.

Word Pair	Meaning
Affect vs Effect	Verb vs noun
Its vs It’s	Possession vs contraction
Then vs Than	Time vs comparison
Further vs Farther	Abstract vs distance
Advice vs Advise	Noun vs verb

Also Read: Key Quant Topics for XAT 2026 Preparation

Tips to Improve Grammar for XAT 2026

Below are some tips on how you can improve your grammar for XAT VA & LR.

Revise rules, don’t memorise: You don’t need 100 grammar chapters. Just revise the key areas above.
Solve the previous 10 years of XAT papers: You’ll understand the pattern quickly.
Maintain a small “mistake notebook”: Write the grammar rules you keep forgetting.
Read 20-30 mins daily: Editorials from Indian Express, Mint, or The Hindu help with sentence structure.
Practice under time pressure: XAT VA/LR section is tight on time; accuracy comes from comfort with patterns.

Also Read: Logical Approaches to Master Critical Reasoning for XAT 2026

So, now you can understand and practice the core grammar concepts that show up repeatedly in XAT. You don't need to become a grammar expert overnight, but spending some time on these basics will make the VA section way more manageable. Practice identifying errors quickly, and try solving previous year questions to see how they are tested in the exam. The more comfortable you get with these concepts, the faster you'll be able to move through the section.

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Which colleges are accepting XAT score 2024?

-Nikhil TiwariUpdated on December 26, 2025 07:26 PM

2 Answers

allysa , Student / Alumni

Lovely Professional University (LPU) does not accept XAT scores for admission. LPU primarily uses its own entrance test called LPUNEST or direct eligibility criteria based on your qualifying marks for MBA and other programs. Some courses may also consider national exams like CMAT or MAT depending on LPU’s latest admission policy, but XAT is not generally accepted for LPU admissions. Always check the current requirements.