SSC CPO English grammar: 12 rules and practice questions with answers

A candidate filling in an answer sheet in an exam hall
Photo: Alison wood, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Error spotting, fill in the blanks and sentence improvement make up a large share of the English part of SSC CPO Paper I (25 questions in 15 minutes), and almost all of them test the same dozen grammar rules. Learn these rules with one example each and you can answer most grammar questions in about 30 seconds. English matters even more in Paper II, where it carries 200 of the 320 marks.

The 12 rules

1. The verb agrees with its real subject, not the nearest noun. "The quality of these mangoes is good." (Subject: quality.)

2. Each, every, either, neither and one of take a singular verb. "Each of the boys has finished." "One of my friends is an engineer."

3. With either … or and neither … nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. "Neither the manager nor his assistants were present."

4. Since for a point of time, for for a period. "He has lived here since 2019." "She has waited for forty minutes."

5. No present perfect with a finished past time. "I saw him yesterday", not "I have seen him yesterday".

6. After did, can, could, will, should, use the base form. "He did not know." "She can sing."

7. Past perfect for the earlier of two past actions. "The train had left before we reached the station."

8. Imaginary conditions take were and would. "If I were you, I would apologise." "Had I known, I would have come."

9. Some words need a fixed preposition. Prefer to, absent from, accused of, senior to, interested in, kind to, depend on, insist on + -ing, look forward to + -ing.

10. No double comparatives or superlatives. "He is taller than his brother", not "more taller".

11. Between for two, among for more than two. "The two brothers quarrelled between themselves."

12. Question tags follow the meaning of the sentence. "Hardly anyone came, did they?" (Hardly makes the sentence negative, so the tag is positive.)

Also remember: no sooner … than, hardly / scarcely … when, and uncountable nouns (news, information, furniture, advice) take a singular verb.

Ten practice questions

Find the part with an error, or choose the correct form.

  1. Neither he nor his friends was present at the party.
  2. The news are very good today.
  3. I prefer tea than coffee.
  4. She has been working here since 2015. (Correct or not?)
  5. No sooner had he arrived when the phone rang.
  6. My brother and I goes to school by bus.
  7. He insisted to pay the bill.
  8. If he will come tomorrow, I will meet him.
  9. One of the most interesting book I have read is this novel.
  10. The furniture in these rooms are new.

Answers

  1. were: the verb agrees with "friends", the nearer subject (rule 3).
  2. is: "news" is uncountable and singular.
  3. to: "prefer … to" (rule 9).
  4. Correct: a point of time with "since" and the present perfect continuous (rule 4).
  5. than: "no sooner … than".
  6. go: two subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb.
  7. on paying: "insist on" + -ing (rule 9).
  8. comes: a future condition after "if" takes the present tense.
  9. books: "one of the" + plural noun (rule 2).
  10. is: "furniture" is uncountable and singular.

How to answer error-spotting questions fast

  1. Find the main verb and its real subject, ignoring phrases like "along with" and "of the".
  2. Check the tense against the time words (yesterday, since, by the time).
  3. Check prepositions after verbs and adjectives.
  4. Only then consider "No error". It is a real answer, but only after these three checks.

Practise in the real format

Every English part of our SSC CPO mock tests has error spotting, fill in the blanks and sentence improvement with explanations that name the rule, and the practice set has English questions by topic. For the whole English plan, see SSC CPO English preparation strategy.

Frequently asked questions

Which grammar topics are most asked in SSC CPO?

Subject-verb agreement, tenses, prepositions, articles, conditionals and comparisons. They cover most error-spotting and sentence-improvement questions.

How do I improve SSC CPO English grammar quickly?

Learn the twelve rules above with one example each, then apply them to ten error-spotting questions a day, noting the rule behind every mistake.

Is "No error" often the right answer?

Sometimes, but not often enough to pick it by default. Choose it only after checking the verb, the tense and the prepositions.