Professional Documents
Culture Documents
org/)
Introduction
In the previous articles we saw how to approach
General
Awareness for
Tier I
Click me (http://mrunal.org/2013/01/studyplan-ssc-cgl-2013-combinedgraduate-level-exam-general-awareness-tier-1-booklist-approach-freestudy-material.html)
Maths /
Quantitative
Aptitude for
Tier I and II
Click me (http://mrunal.org/2013/01/studyplan-ssc-cgl-maths-quantitativeaptitude-algebra-trigonometry-approach-booklist-sources-freestudymaterial-combined-graduate-level-exam-tier-1-2.html)
Reasoning/
General
Intelligence for
Tier I
Click me (http://mrunal.org/2013/01/studyplan-ssc-cgl-logical-reasoninggeneral-intelligence-preparation-strategy-approach-roadmapbooklist.html)
In this article, well see how to approach English for SSC-CGL exam.
50 questions
(other 150 question will come from GK, Maths and Reasoning)
2 hours
Tier II (mains)
Paper II
200 questions
2 hours
Tier II
2010
2011
2010
2011
2010
2011
Antonym
Synonym/Substitution
10
10
10
10
15
Idioms
10
Spelling
Fill In Blanks
15
30
20
10
Vocab Subtotal
20
35
30
55
45
41
Grammar
Tier I
Tier II
2010
2011
2012
2010
2011
2012
Sentence Correction
20
20
20
Sentence Improvement
20
20
22
Direct-Indirect
25
25
27
Active-Passive
20
20
20
Grammar Subtotal
20
15
10
85
85
89
Tier II
2010
2011
2012
2010
2011
2012
Sentence Arrangement
10
20
20
Comprehension
10
50
50
50
Subtotal
10
10
60
70
70
(http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-
WIMmGvL9TXA/UPmpkp1ci7I/AAAAAAAAA8g/dE2hciM4nt0/s800/SSC%2520CGL%2520English%2520
Tier II
2010
2011
2012
2010
2011
2012
20
35
30
55
45
41
20
15
10
85
85
89
10
10
60
70
70
50
50
50
200
200
200
1. Synonyms
2. Antonyms
3. Fill in the blanks
(single statement)
4. Fill in the blank
Vocabulary
(huge paragraph)
5. Spelling mistake
6. Idioms and phrases
7. One word
substitution (similar
to synonyms)
8. Sentence
improvement
Grammar
9. sentence correction
10. Active passive
11. Direct-indirect
12. Comprehension
Comprehension
Total
13. Sentence
Arrangement
Grand Total
The SSC exams, the English questions usually come in the multiple of fives e.g. 5 question
on synonyms, then 5 on antonyms and so on. (tier 1)
Similarly in tier-ii, 10 questions on fill in the blanks, 20 questions on active passive and so on.
Please do not live in overconfidence that SSC is a pappu exam and Im a master of English. so
I dont need to prepare anything for vocabulary or grammar.
If you observe the previous SSC papers particularly the tier-II papers of English, the
vocabulary portion is not pappu at times, they ask meaning of words that are not used in
the day to day English.
Similarly, a lot of things that we say and write in English in our day-to-day life, are not
grammatically correct. So you may not be able to tick the right choice in sentence correct/
improvement question.
First of all, get a fullscape notebook / diary. Divide it into two parts
1. Grammar
2. Vocabulary. (last 50 pages)
Vocabulary?
Vocabulary is of critical importance in SSC exam because of following reasons
1. There are direct questions on synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases.
2. You can read the passage faster, if your vocabulary is good, else youll have to pause and
think.
3. In comprehension passages, some questions are in the format of what is the meaning of
XYZ word in the sentence
Apart from SSC, if youre planning to appear for CAPF , LIC or PSU exams they usually have a
descriptive paper (prcis, letter writing, essay etc.)
If youre planning for UPSC, or State PSC, both have compulsory English paper during Mains.
Again (prcis, letter writing, essay etc.)
So, youll have to write English essay someday and without good vocabulary you cant write a
decent essay.
Vocab: Basics
Most of the so-called books on English vocabulary,
written by Indian authors, and merely rephrasing the
concept of Norman Lewiss book Word Power made
easy+ copy pasting some synonyms-antonym list
from google search.
My advice: Use this book called Word Power made
easy by Norman Lewis
(http://www.flipkart.com/search-book?
affid=mrunalrugm&wgtid=FK-AFSB&query=9788183071000)
This book does not merely contain meaning of words
but also helps you guestimate answers and
probable meanings of unfamiliar words.
Because Norman Lewis explains how English
vocabulary has evolved from certain roots. He has also
(http://www.flipkart.com/searchbook?
affid=mrunalrugm&wgtid=FKAF-SB&query=9788183071000)
Basics of
vocabulary
Try to finish 3-4 sessions per day. Complete all the exercises given at
the end of each session.
In the appendix, he has given meaning of all the words you learned in
above sessions.
Appendix
Vocabulary: Advanced
(http://wordweb.info/free/)
Download free software called WordWeb: http://wordweb.info/free/
(http://wordweb.info/free/)
It is also available for android phones, tablets etc. for free (links on the same site).
Keep a habit of reading in English on daily basis- be itEnglish-newspaper, magazine or some
web-article.
While reading such things, whenever you come across any difficult word- note down in your
diary, along with the sentence in which it appeared. (please keep in mind that absolute
words do not stay long-term memory. You have to connect them with a sentence or
context.)
Then lookup for its meaning in the Wordweb software, and write down the meaning back in
your diary/notebook.
Repeat this exercise, until youre selected in some exam.
This pretty concludes the approach for Vocabulary.
Moving to the next topic:
Approaching Grammar
Task #1: Active Passive (voice) and Direct-Indirect (speech)
This is no-excuse topic. Because it relies on a set of simple rules, almost like math formulas.
And usually Tier I has 10 questions on Voice+speech
and tier-II has almost 40-45 questions on these two topics alone.
Understand the grammar rules and practice maximum questions.
In your diary note down any special/odd rules you come across- including example
sentences.
Grammar Rules
First of all you need to know the grammar rules. But you dont need to know all grammar
rules!
Because in competitive exam, sentence correction relies on certain specific mistakes only.
For example: The topic verb has lot of theory and classifications.
But for sentence correction, it boils down to very few rules for example
1. Either, Neither, none, each and every is singular.
Wrong
Right
Your task = first go through your grammar book, and note down such rules with example
statements, in your note book. Revise these rules often (along with example sentences).
Phrasal Verbs
Grammar rules are like maths. Universal valid.
But Phrasal verbs are different game altogether. You need to know memorize the correct
usage- case to case basis. For example:
Correct phrasal verb
Wrong Usage
Both statements are wrong because phrasal verbs are incorrectly used.
Many a times, candidates know the grammar rules very well, but they fail to detect the error
in sentence because theyve not prepared the phrasal verbs.
Standard English has truckload of phrasal verbs. But you should at least know the
top/common 200 of them. (can begoggledand also available in various grammar books).
You next task: revise the list often and write down the very confusing ones into your diary:
Author
Pages
(approx.)
Comment
S.C.Gupta
370
Not recommended
because it contains
mostly practice tests
and very few rules
on grammar= not
comprehensive
enough.
S.P.Bakshi
730
This is the
recommended book.
Mrunal recommends