English Language is a topic which is given to
test the candidate's English Grammar, Vocabulary skills and Reading Skills.
Please don't underestimate this topic as it does not include any question which
you've studied upto your 10th standard.
If you're afraid from English then get ready
to fight with your fear and if you're proud for the marks which you've taken in
English till 10th or 12th then it's time for you to face the real English
Language test.
What I am trying to say is it doesn't matter what
you have done in your school days in English subject because that is not related
to the syllabus or questions which you will face in the competitive exams like
SSC CHSL. Let's just jump into it.
Syllabus of English Language
| Grammar |
Vocabulary |
Reading Skills |
| 1. Spotting the Error |
1. Synonyms |
1. Sentence Completion |
| 2. Sentence Improvement |
2. Antonyms |
2. Cloze Test |
| 3. Voice |
3. One Word Substitution |
3. Sequence of Sentences |
| 4. Narration |
4. Spelling Rules |
4. Comprehension Passage |
|
5. Idioms & Phrases |
|
Study
Material
Detailed Analysis of
Syllabus
Grammar
1. Spotting the Error (5-6
Marks)
Example:
Directions (1-5): In the following questions some
parts of the sentences have errors and some have none. Find out which part of a
sentence has an error. The number of that part is your answer. If there is no
error, then your answer is (d) i.e. No error.
1.
This custom (a)/ has come down (b)/ since times immemorial. (c) / No error.
(d)
2. This letter will reach him
(a)/ before he left (b)/ for Delhi. (c)/ No error. (d)
3. We stayed for (a)/ a short time (b) / in the
hotel. (c)/ No error. (d)
4.
Students are prohibited (a)/ to bring cycles (b)/ into the college. (c)/ No
error. (d)
5. Unless you are
careful, (a)/ you are bound to make mistake (b)/ in your work. (c)/ No error.
(d)
Analysis
You will be given some 5 or 6 sentences like above.
Each sentence will be divided into parts a,b,c, & d. And you will be asked
to find out error in the sentence. The part of the sentence which have error
will be your answer. If there is not any error in the sentence then mark the
last part i.e. 'No Error' as the answer.
2. Sentence Improvement (2-4
Marks)
Example:
Directions (1-2):
In the following questions, a part of the sentence is printed in bold. Below are
given alternatives to the bold part at (1), (2) and (3) which may improve the
sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed your
answer is (4).
1. Did there bus come on time?
(a)
their’s
(b) theirs
(c) their
(d) No improvement
2. Mayank was
working overtime for the last two weeks.
(a) is working
(b) is being
working
(c) has been working
(d) No
improvement
Analysis
You will be given a sentence in each
question and in the sentence some words will be bold. Your job is to find out
whether the bolded word need improvement or not. If it need improvement then
there will be some options given to you and you have to mark the correct option
which can be replaced as the best suited option grammatically with the bolded
words. If the sentence doesn't need any improvement then mark 'No Improvement'
as the answer.
3. Narration/Direct or Indirect Speech (4-5
Marks)
Example:
Directions: In questions
below a sentence has been in Direct/Indirect.Out of the four alternatives
suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in
Indirect/Direct and mark your answer in the answer sheet.
1. He said to
me, "I grew these carrots myself"
(a) He told me that he has grown these
carrots himself.
(b) He told me that he grew those carrots himself.
(c) He
told me I grew these carrots myself.
(d) He told me that he grew these
carrots himself.
2. Mrs. Shankar said, "I know what it is to be
depressed."
(a) Mrs. Shankar is depressed she said.
(b) Mrs. Shankar
said that she was knowing what it was to be depressed.
(c) Mrs. Shankar said
that she knew what it is to be depressed.
(d) Mrs. Shankar knows what it is
to be depressed.
Analysis:
I think you get the idea what
you'll have in your plate from this question. You will be given a sentence in
each question. It can be in direct speech or indirect and below it four options.
If the given sentence is in direct narration then you have to find out the
indirect narration of the same sentence in the options and mark that the correct
option in the answer sheet. Do the same thing if you are given indirect
sentence.
4. Change the Voice (4-5
Marks)
Example:
Directions: In the questions
below a sentence has been in Active/Passive Voice. Out of the four alternatives
suggested select the one which best expresses the same meaning in Passive/Active
Voice and mark your answer in the answer sheet.
1. She took dog for a
walk.
(a) The dog was took for a walk.
(b) The dog took a walk by
her.
(c) The dog was taken for a walk by her.
(d) The dog took her for a
walk.
2. The waiter filled the glasses with water.
(a) The waiter
was filled the glasses with water.
(b) The water were filled in the glasses
by waiter.
(c) The glasses filled with water by the waiter.
(d) The
glasses were filled with water by the waiter.
Analysis:
The
above questions will be asked from the chapter 'Voice' or 'Change the Voice'.
These are very straight forward question. You will be a given a sentence. It can
be in Active Voice or can be in Passive Voice. If the given sentence is in
Active Voice, you have to find out the same sentence in Passive Voice in the
given options and same thing if you have the sentence in Passive Voice then find
out the sentence in Active Voice in the options and mark the answer in the OMR
sheet.
How to deal with Grammar
Grammar (15-17
Marks): There are 4 chapters of Grammar. We need a book which is
specifically written to match the syllabus of English Language of competitive
exams. Don't buy traditional high school grammar books as they do not contain
objective questions for practice and they are not upto the mark of competition
exam English Language questions.
So we recommend you to go with
Objective General English by S.P. Bakshi. The book is divided
into 4 Parts and then parts into Units. For Spotting the Error & Sentence
Improvement questions you will do Unit-I, II, III, IV, (skip V), and lastly
Unit-VI.
Solve all the Revision Exercises. Unit-VI is the most important
chapter as 16th chapter is Spotting the Error and 17th is Sentence Improvement
Exercises. It contains the mixture of questions from all the Grammar chapters
from Unit-I to VI. Skip 18th Chapter as it is not in syllabus.
For Narration you just have to understand the basic rules of
'Narration' and 'Voice'. For Narration Part-D, Chapter-1, Narration and for
Voice Part-A (Foundation Module), Unit-I, Chapter-2 (already done above) of S.P.
Bakshi.
Vocabulary
Example:
1.
Synonyms (2-4 Marks)
Directions (1-5): In the following
questions, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the
same meaning of the given word.
1. Irresolute
(a) undecided
(b) angry
(c) ignorant
(d) firm
|
2. Frugal
(a) economical
(b) delicate
(c) splendid
(d) hungry
|
3. Motive
(a) reason
(b) occasion
(c) intention
(d) preparation
|
4. Pity
(a) offence
(b) mercy
(c) kindness
(d) joy
|
5. Quash
(a) question
(b) pledge
(c) reject
(d) slash
|
|
Analysis
This is
the topic of Synonyms in which you will be given a word and asked to mark the
option from the given options which best expresses the same meaning of the given
word. We generally call it (Samanarthi Shabd) in hindi.
2.
Antonyms (2-4 Marks)
Example: Directions
(1-5): In the following questions, choose the word opposite in meaning to the
given word.
66. Quiet
(a) strong
(b) noisy
(c)
incomplete
(d) violent
|
67. Vague
(a) clear
(b) dull
(c)
unknown
(d) shady
|
68. Incredible
(a) believable
(b)
possible
(c) imaginable
(d) enjoyable
|
69. Inevitable
(a) avoidable
(b) unnecessary
(c)
inseparable
(d) uncertain |
70. Humility
(a) dignity
(b) cruelty
(c) anger
(d)
pride |
|
Analysis:
This time again you will be given a word and four options. You have to find
out the word which is opposite in meaning to the given
word.
3. Spelling Rules (2-3
Marks)
Example:Directions (1-2): In the
following questions, groups of four words are given. In each group, one word
is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word.
1.
(a) systamatically
(b) systematically
(c)
systematicaly
(d) systimatically |
2.
(a) erthiness
(b) earthines
(c) earthhiness
(d)
earthiness |
Analysis:
Your job is to find
out the correctly spelt word in each question from the given four
options.
4. One Word Substitution (3-4
Marks)
Example: Directions (1-4): In the
following questions, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be
substituted for the given words/sentence.
1. Able to use the left hand and right hand equally well
(a)
ambivert
(b) ambidextrous
(c) ambivalent
(d) ambitious |
2. One who hates women
(a) philanthropist
(b)
ascetic
(c) misogamist
(d) misogynist |
3. A system of naming things
(a) horticulture
(b)
miniature
(c) genocide
(d) nomenclature |
4. A raised pass
(a) walkway
(b) walkout
(c)
walkabout
(d) walkover |
Analysis:
These
are one word substitution questions. Again doesn't need any explanation. You
have to find the word in the options which can be used as single word for that
full sentence.
5. Idioms & Phrases (3-4
Marks)
Example:Directions (71-75): In the
following questions, four alternatives are given for the idiom/phrase. Choose
the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/ phrase.
1. At one’s beck and call
(a) to attend a call
(b) to be
helped by someone
(c) to be useful to someone
(d) to be dominated by
someone |
2. To explore every avenue
(a) to search all streets
(b)
to scout the wilderness
(c) to find adventure
(d) to try every
opportunity |
3. The Manager doctored the accounts of the
company.
(a) to make changes in account books
(b) to clear the doctors
bill
(c) to verify the accounts in detail
(d) to manipulate the
accounts |
4. She could never measure up to her parent
expectation.
(a) reach the level
(b) work as hard
(c) assess the
amount
(d) increase her
height |
Analysis:
These questions can be
asked in two ways. They can be asked as the '1st' and '2nd'. Under this you will
be given an Idiom or phrase directly and asked to find out the meaning from the
given options. Second method is shown in '3rd' and '4th' part. The idiom or
phrase will be embedded in a sentence. This time also you will be asked to find
out the meaning of that Phrase/Idiom printed bold in the sentence.
How to deal with Vocabulary
(B)
Vocabulary (10-12 Marks): There are 7 chapters of Vocabulary.
One book that can help you to build fantastic vocabulary is
Word Power Made Easy. Not only it helps you to crack this exam
but also polish your English Vocabulary for future.
The biggest advantage
of this book is after reading 'Word Power Made Easy' you will be able to guess
the correct answer of synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases and all other
questions of Vocabulary even if haven't read that before. It makes you that much
efficient.
This is divided into 3 parts and these three parts into 19
chapters. After Word Power you will do Unit-V which you've skipped above. Next
you will do Chapter 2, 4, 6 & 7 of Part-B and lastly Spelling Rules of
Part-D.
Reading
Skills
Directions (1-4): In the following questions sentences are
given with blanks to be filled in with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives
are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the
four.
1. Sentence Completion (5-6
Marks)
Example:
Directions (1-2): In the following
questions sentences are given with blanks to be filled in with an appropriate
word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct
alternative out of the four.
1. There was some ______ between the member
’s version and the committee’s version.
(a) discourse
(b)
discrepancy
(c) certainty
(d) recurrence
2. We have talked a lot:
not let us ______ to work.
(a) get down
(b) set off
(c) take
off
(d) sit up
Analysis:
You have to find out the word in
each question that suits best with the sentence.
2. Cloze
Test
Example: There are certainly some things in
common between science and religion. Both want the (91) of mankind. Only their
ways and (92) are different. Then both of them (93) to have truth as their
basis. Religion (94) that the truth it (95) should be believed in with a blind
(96). Science says that it should be studied, (97), tested and only then relied
upon. If during (98) some new truth or new aspect of the truth (99), science is
ready to accept (100). But religion is not ready for research, experiment and
change in whatever has already
been accepted or revealed.
91.
(a) goodwill
(b) goodness
(c) welfare
(d) best
|
92.
(a)
manner
(b) demonstration
(c) style
(d) methods |
93.
(a) say
(b) claim
(c) assure
(d) promise |
94.
(a) wants
(b) promotes
(c) shows
(d)
forces |
95.
(a) proclaims
(b) announces
(c) creates
(d)
ensures |
96.
(a) belief
(b) mind
(c) faith
(d)
trust |
97.
(a) touched
(b) felt
(c) seen
(d) probed |
98.
(a) hypothesis
(b) research
(c) meditation
(d)
concentration |
99.
(a) emerges
(b) comes
(c) presents
(d)
revealed |
100.
(a) these
(b) this
(c) it
(d)
them |
Analysis:
This is a kind of
a big paragraph in which you will be given 10 blanks. Each blank has four
options and again you have to find out the correct option to fill the particular
blank.
3. Sequence of
Sentences
Example:
(1)
1: I have not
come
P: even if it means some humiliation
Q: but the boy must learn
R:
to complain, he said
S: to be honest
6: and admit he broke our window
pane.
(a) SPRQ
(b) QSPR
(c) RQSP
(d)
PRQS
Analysis:
You will be given a jumbled paragraph in which
1st and 6th (or last sentence) is correctly placed but the four sentence between
those 1st and 6th sentence will be placed in zig-zag manner. Your job is to
place them correctly and choose the option which match with your
answer.
4. Comprehension Passage
I think I don't
have to explain this. As you've already know about what a comprehension passage
is. It is a kind of chunk of text with 2 or 3 paragraphs. You have to read it
and understand it then you have to answer few questions below it and that's it.
How to deal with Reading Skills (C) Reading
Skills (19-20 Marks): There are not hard and fast rules to
master reading skills. Questions like Sentence Completion, Cloze Test,
Comprehensions Passage can be mastered with practice of lot of questions. So
from
Objective General English for:
(i) Sentence Completion -
Part-B, Chapter-6
(ii) Cloze Test - Part-B, Chapter-7
(iii) Sequence of
Sentences - Part-C, Chapter-1
(iv) Comprehension Passage - Part-C,
Chapter-2
A Traditional Tip: Just Practice as much questions as
you can.