MDCAT English and Logical Reasoning: What Past Papers Test and How to Score 18/18
English and Logical Reasoning are only 9 MCQs each, but they're the quickest marks to improve. We counted 433 past-paper questions to show exactly what gets tested and how to prepare.
By ParhaiKrlo Team · Published 7 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Updated: 7 October 2026
English and Logical Reasoning (LR) are the two smallest subjects in MDCAT: 9 MCQs each, 18 marks together, 10% of the paper. It's tempting to ignore them. That's a mistake.
Eighteen marks is worth about 5 aggregate points, and these are the fastest marks to improve. You don't need to learn a textbook. You need to learn a small set of question types and practise them.
We counted every English and LR question in ParhaiKrlo's bank of MDCAT past papers: 406 English MCQs from 2008 to 2025, and 27 LR MCQs from 2022 to 2025 (LR only joined the paper in 2022).
Quick answer
- English is 9 MCQs and Logical Reasoning is 9 MCQs in the current 180-question MDCAT.
- Recent English is mostly grammar and vocabulary. In 2022 to 2025, contextual vocabulary, tenses, pronoun agreement and punctuation made up 38 of 61 English MCQs (62%).
- LR tests a few fixed question types: cause and effect, logical deductions, letter and number series, courses of action, and critical thinking. Logical deductions and series questions appeared in every PMDC-era paper.
- Both subjects reward practice, not memorising. Fifteen to twenty minutes a day for a few weeks makes a real difference.
Why 18 marks matter
Each MDCAT mark is worth about 0.28 aggregate points (50 ÷ 180). So:
- 18 marks = about 5 aggregate points
- Going from 12/18 to 17/18 = about 1.4 aggregate points
In a merit list where thousands of students sit within a few points of each other, that's a lot of places. And it's far easier to gain 5 marks here than in Biology. Try the MDCAT merit calculator to see what a few marks do to your aggregate.
MDCAT English: what past papers test
All 16 papers (406 MCQs)
| Question area | MCQs | % of English |
|---|---|---|
| Synonyms and word meaning | 84 | 20.7% |
| Contextual vocabulary | 81 | 20.0% |
| Tenses | 39 | 9.6% |
| Pronoun-antecedent agreement | 36 | 8.9% |
| Errors of function and spelling | 36 | 8.9% |
| Faulty sentence structure | 30 | 7.4% |
| Punctuation | 23 | 5.7% |
| Prepositions | 20 | 4.9% |
Vocabulary questions (synonyms plus contextual vocabulary) make up 165 of 406, or 40.6%, of every English MCQ in our data.
The recent papers (2022 to 2025, 61 MCQs)
The PMDC-era papers lean more on grammar:
| Question area | MCQs | % of recent English |
|---|---|---|
| Contextual vocabulary | 12 | 19.7% |
| Tenses | 10 | 16.4% |
| Pronoun-antecedent agreement | 9 | 14.8% |
| Punctuation | 7 | 11.5% |
| Subject-verb agreement | 4 | 6.6% |
| Synonyms | 4 | 6.6% |
| Sentence structure | 4 | 6.6% |
| Prepositions | 3 | 4.9% |
Only 3 of the 61 recent English MCQs tested writing skills such as spotting errors in a passage. The rest tested grammar and vocabulary directly.
Common English question formats
- "Choose the correct sentence." Four versions of one sentence, with only one grammatically correct. These usually test tenses, agreement or pronouns.
- "Choose the word closest in meaning" to a word used in a sentence. Read the whole sentence: the meaning in context is what counts.
- "Identify the error" in an underlined part of a sentence.
- Punctuation: which version uses commas, apostrophes or semicolons correctly.
How to prepare for MDCAT English
- Master five grammar rules first: tenses, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, prepositions and punctuation. They cover most recent questions.
- Build vocabulary in context. Learn 10 new words a day from your reading, with an example sentence for each. Lists of isolated words are less useful.
- Read for 15 minutes a day. A good English newspaper or book trains your ear for what sounds correct.
- Practise "choose the correct sentence" questions in bulk. They follow patterns, and you'll start spotting them quickly.
- Learn from your mistakes. For every wrong answer, write down the rule it tested.
MDCAT Logical Reasoning: what past papers test
LR has appeared since 2022, so there's much less data: 27 MCQs from four papers. Treat the counts as a guide to the question types, not as precise weightage.
| Question type | MCQs (2022-2025) | Appeared in |
|---|---|---|
| Cause and effect | 6 | All four papers |
| Logical deductions | 6 | All four papers |
| Critical thinking | 5 | 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| Course of action | 4 | 2022, 2023, 2025 |
| Letter and symbol series | 4 | All four papers |
| Logical problems | 2 | 2024, 2025 |
The question types, with examples
These examples are our own, written to show the format.
Logical deductions (syllogisms). You're given statements and asked which conclusion must be true.
All doctors are graduates. Some graduates are athletes. Does it follow that some doctors are athletes?
No. The athletes might be graduates who aren't doctors. Draw a quick circle diagram for these questions and only accept a conclusion that's true in every possible diagram.
Series. Find the next term in a pattern of numbers, letters or symbols.
2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ?
The gaps are 4, 6, 8, 10, so the next gap is 12 and the answer is 42. Always check the differences first, then the ratios.
Cause and effect. You're given two statements and asked how they're related: does one cause the other, are both effects of a common cause, or are they unrelated?
Course of action. You're given a problem and some suggested actions. Pick the ones that logically follow and are practical. Reject actions that are extreme, unrelated or don't solve the stated problem.
Critical thinking. Questions on whether a statement is true, false or can't be determined from the information given. Don't bring in outside knowledge. Judge only from what's in the question.
How to prepare for MDCAT LR
- Learn each question type's method once. Circle diagrams for syllogisms, differences and ratios for series, and "does it solve the problem?" for courses of action.
- Practise 10 LR questions a day for two weeks. That's usually enough to get comfortable with every type.
- Read the question twice. Most LR mistakes come from misreading words like "some", "all", "not" and "necessarily".
- Don't overthink. If a question takes more than a minute and a half, choose your best answer and move on. There's no negative marking.
Where to practise
- English syllabus and Logical Reasoning syllabus: every topic, with practice questions.
- MDCAT past papers: the 2022 to 2025 papers have real LR sections.
- Full-length MDCAT mocks: practise both subjects inside a timed paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many English and Logical Reasoning MCQs are in MDCAT?
English is 9 MCQs and Logical Reasoning is 9 MCQs in the current 180-question MDCAT, so 18 marks together, or 10% of the paper. That's worth about 5 aggregate points, because each MDCAT mark adds about 0.28 points.
What does MDCAT English test?
Recent papers mostly test grammar and vocabulary. In 2022 to 2025, contextual vocabulary (12), tenses (10), pronoun-antecedent agreement (9) and punctuation (7) made up 38 of 61 English MCQs, or 62%. Only 3 of the 61 tested writing skills such as spotting errors in a passage.
What types of Logical Reasoning questions come in MDCAT?
Across the 27 LR MCQs from 2022 to 2025: cause and effect (6), logical deductions (6), critical thinking (5), course of action (4), letter and symbol series (4) and logical problems (2). Cause and effect, logical deductions and series questions appeared in all four papers.
How long does it take to prepare MDCAT Logical Reasoning?
Learn each question type's method once, then practise 10 LR questions a day for two weeks. That's usually enough to get comfortable with every type. Read each question twice, because most mistakes come from misreading words like some, all, not and necessarily.
How can I improve my MDCAT English score quickly?
Master five grammar rules first: tenses, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, prepositions and punctuation. Then build vocabulary in context with 10 new words a day, read for 15 minutes a day, and practise choose-the-correct-sentence questions in bulk.
Next steps
- MDCAT Biology chapter-wise weightage
- MDCAT Chemistry chapter-wise weightage
- MDCAT Physics chapter-wise weightage
All counts are from ParhaiKrlo's own verified bank of MDCAT past papers, counted on 7 October 2026. English covers 2008 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025. Logical Reasoning covers 2022 to 2025 only, because it wasn't part of the earlier papers. Question-area names are our topic tags. The 9-MCQ weightage for each subject is PMDC's current MDCAT pattern.