JAMB Use of English 2023 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2023 JAMB Use of English paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 112 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Use of English 2023 questions and answers

1.
In this question, choose the option that best completes the gap(s).
The proprietor of our school with his administrator ------------ expected yesterday.
1. A
  were
2. B
  are
3. C
  is
4. D
  was
  Correct
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Answer: D
The subject of the sentence is "The proprietor" — a single person. The phrase "with his administrator" is not joined to the subject by "and"; it is an accompanying phrase introduced by "with", so it does not turn the subject into a plural one. The verb must still agree with the singular "proprietor".
2.
In each of the following sentences, the word that resolves the emphatic stress is written in capital letters. From the options letters A to D, choose the one to which the given sentence is the appropriate answer.
Daddy plays TENNIS on Saturday afternoons
1. A
  Who plays tennis on Saturday afternoons?
2. B
  What does Daddy do on Saturday afternoons?
3. C
  When does Daddy play tennis?
4. D
  What does Daddy play on Saturday afternoons?
  Correct
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Answer: D
In emphatic (contrastive) stress, the word written in capital letters is the new information — it is the piece the speaker is supplying. So look for the question whose question word sits exactly where that stressed word sits.
3.
In this question, fill each gap with the most appropriate option from the list provided.
Without our relentless campaigns, we might ...... sure of victory in the race for the National Assembly.
1. A
  not been
2. B
  have been
3. C
  not have been
  Correct
4. D
  have not been
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Answer: C
Look closely at the opening phrase: "Without our relentless campaigns". That is a short way of saying "If we had not campaigned relentlessly...". It is an unreal (counterfactual) condition about the past — the campaigns actually took place, and the speaker is imagining what would have happened if they had not. The main clause of such a sentence takes modal + have + past participle: might have been, could have been, would have been.
4.
In this question, identify the word that has the stress on the first syllable.
1. A
  police
2. B
  mature
3. C
  colleague
  Correct
4. D
  machine
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Answer: C
The question asks for the word whose primary stress falls on the first syllable. Break each word into syllables and mark where the voice rises and the vowel is fullest.
colleague is the correct answer. It is pronounced /ˈkɒl.iːɡ/ — COL-league. The stress sits squarely on the first syllable. Many of us say col-LEAGUE in everyday speech, but the dictionary stress is on COL, and that is what JAMB tests.
5.
From the options lettered A-D, choose the option that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word.
My mother is a shrewd businesswoman.
1. A
  gentle
2. B
  naive
  Correct
3. C
  timid
4. D
  honest
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Answer: B
To be shrewd is to have sharp practical judgement — you are astute, you weigh things quickly and you are not easily outwitted or cheated. So a shrewd businesswoman is one who knows the market, reads people well and makes wise decisions with her money.
6.
This question is based on "The Life Changer" novel.
why did Omar say he passed his SSCE by no means a small feat?
1. A
  Because he sat the examination twice before finally earning the credits that qualified him for admission
2. B
  Because he obtained seven credits, including English and Mathematics, at one sitting without patronising the miracle centres his colleagues used
  Correct
3. C
  Because his own school was one of the miracle centres where no candidate was ever allowed to fail
4. D
  Because he scored two hundred and thirty out of four hundred, the highest mark recorded in his set that year
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Answer: B
Go back to Chapter One of The Life Changer. Omar bursts in with his admission letter to read Law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and boasts of seven credits, including English and Mathematics, at the very first attempt in his WAEC examination. When Teemah teases him for blowing his own trumpet, he defends himself by asking how many of his colleagues had their examinations sat for them, and how many parents paid big money to the so-called Miracle Centres where no candidate fails. That is the whole point of the boast: in a system rotten with examination malpractice, he passed cleanly, on his own head, and at one sitting. So the answer is that his seven credits were earned honestly, without patronising the miracle centres.
7.
Choose the word or phrase from A to D which has its meaning opposite to the underlined word or words in each sentence
She was impertinent until she met her husband.
1. A
  respectful
  Correct
2. B
  insolent
3. C
  reserved
4. D
  pertinent
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Answer: A
Look first at what impertinent means in this sentence. It describes how the woman behaved towards people before marriage: she was rude, cheeky, disrespectful. So the word that is opposite in meaning is respectful - one who shows proper regard and good manners towards others.
8.
The primary stress is indicated by writing the syllable on which it occurs in capital letters. From the words lettered A to D choose the one that has the correct stress.
presidency
1. A
  presidenCY
2. B
  PREsidency
  Correct
3. C
  preSIdency
4. D
  presiDENcy
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Answer: B
PREsidency is correct. The word has four syllables — pres-i-den-cy — and it is pronounced /ˈprez-ɪ-dən-si/, with the primary stress falling on the very first syllable.
9.
The coach has asked the Bright Rangers to be paid their --6-- salaries and --7-- so as to --8-- them to victory against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in Saturday'sall-importantCAF Champions League Match. Bright Rangers are the third in group B with four points --9-- many matches and need to --10-- defeat at second-placed Al - Ahly to stay in the --11-- for a place in the semi-final of Africa's most prestigious club competition. The Coach told MTN Football.com that the team would be better motivated if they at leastreceive their August salaries before the Al-Ahly --12--. We have to make sure that they are paid their salaries --13-- so that they can play the game of their lives. The government has done very well, but it will be a big morale --14-- to get paid for them to go out there and play. The Coach informed MTN Football.com that the Bright Rangers plan to employ the counter --15-- to get a result in Cario.

--11--
1. A
  struggle
2. B
  race
  Correct
3. C
  contention
4. D
  competition
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Answer: B
Read the whole sentence before you choose: "Bright Rangers are the third in group B ... and need to --10-- defeat at second-placed Al-Ahly to stay in the --11-- for a place in the semi-final." The gap needs a singular noun after "the", and the meaning required is to still have a chance of qualifying.
10.
From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that rhymes with the given word below.
Pitch
1. A
  Reach
2. B
  Witch
  Correct
3. C
  Batch
4. D
  Watch
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Answer: B
The word Pitch is pronounced /pɪtʃ/, with the short vowel sound "ih" followed by the "-tch" ending.
Witch is pronounced /wɪtʃ/ — it has exactly the same "ih" vowel sound plus the "-tch" ending, so it rhymes perfectly with "Pitch".

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

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JAMB Use of English 2023 past questions

JAMB Use of English 2023 questions and answers

Practise all 112 questions we hold from the 2023 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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