SSC CGL VOCABULARY

17 60 English Grammar Rules

Category Rule Rule Description Example of Correct Usage Example of Common

No. Error (and correction)
I. Subject-Verb 1 Singular Subject takes Singular Verb; Plural Subject The dog barks loudly. The dogs The boy play cricket.
Agreement (SVA) takes Plural Verb. bark loudly. (Should be 'plays')
2 Collective Nouns: Singular when a unit, Plural when The committee has submitted its The team are playing well.
individuals acting separately. report. (Unit) The committee are (Often treated as a unit, so
divided. (Individuals) 'is')
3 "Either...or," "Neither...nor": Verb agrees with the Neither he nor I am responsible. Neither he nor his friends is
subject closest to it. Either the students or the teacher going. (Should be 'are')
is coming.
4 "One of," "Each of," "None of," "Every one of": One of the boys is absent. Each Each of the students were
Plural noun, Singular verb. of the students was given a prize. given a prize. (Should be
'was')
5 Words joined by "as well as," "with," "along Ram, as well as his friends, is The captain, along with the
with," etc.: Verb agrees with the first subject. coming. The captain, along with players, are practicing.
the players, is practicing. (Should be 'is')
6 "A number of" (plural verb) vs. "The number of" A number of students are A number of students is
(singular verb). participating. The number of present. (Should be 'are')
absentees is increasing.
7 "More than one," "Many a": Take a singular verb. More than one student was Many a boy are playing.
present. Many a man has tried (Should be 'is')
this.
8 Uncountable Nouns: Always take a singular verb. The information is accurate. The news are alarming.
Furniture is expensive. (Should be 'is')
9 Nouns appearing plural but singular in Mathematics is his favorite Physics are difficult. (Should
meaning (e.g., subjects, diseases): Singular verb. subject. Mumps is a contagious be 'is')
disease.
10 Nouns always plural (e.g., scissors, trousers): Take My scissors are sharp. Your My spectacles is new.
a plural verb. trousers are too long. (Should be 'are')
II. Pronouns 11 Order of Pronouns: 2-3-1 (positive), 1-2-3 You, he, and I will go to the party. He, you, and I am going.
(negative/confession). I, you, and he are to blame. (Should be 'are' and in 2-3-1
order if positive)
12 Possessive Case before Gerund: Noun/pronoun I appreciate his coming late. I I objected to him going
preceding a gerund must be possessive. objected to their going there. there. (Should be 'his')
13 "Who" (Subject) vs. "Whom" (Object): Who broke the window? To whom Whom is calling? (Should be
did you give the book? 'Who')
14 Reflexive Pronouns: Used when subject and object He hurt himself. He introduced My brother and myself went
are the same. Avoid improper emphasis. himself to the manager. to the market. (Should be 'I')
15 Indefinite Pronouns (e.g., everyone, nobody): Everyone has completed his/her Everyone should do their
Singular verb and possessive (his/her). task. duty. (Should be 'his/her')
16 Comparison of Pronouns: Use subject pronoun He is taller than I (am). She runs She runs faster than him.
after 'than' or 'as' for subject comparison. faster than he (does). (Should be 'he')
17 Pronoun Reference: Ensure pronouns clearly refer When John saw Bill, John was When John saw Bill, he was
to a specific antecedent. surprised. surprised. (Ambiguous)
18 "One's" with "One": The possessive of 'one' is One must do one's duty. One must do his duty.
'one's'. (Should be 'one's')
III. Tenses 19 Present Simple: For universal truths, habitual The sun rises in the east. He goes He is going to school
actions, fixed schedules. to school every day. everyday. (Should be 'goes')
20 Present Continuous: For ongoing actions, She is reading a book right now. I I read a book now. (Should
temporary actions. am living in London for a few be 'am reading')
months.
21 Present Perfect: For actions completed in recent I have finished my homework. She I finished my homework
past with current relevance; with 'since', 'for', 'yet', has lived here for five years. just now. (Often 'have
'already'. finished')
22 Present Perfect Continuous: For actions started in She has been studying for three She is studying for three
the past and still continuing, emphasizing duration. hours. They have been working hours. (Should be 'has been
since morning. studying')
23 Past Simple: For completed actions at a specific I visited Paris last year. She met I have visited Paris last
past time. him yesterday. year. (Should be 'visited')
24 Past Continuous: For actions ongoing in the past While I was sleeping, the phone While I slept, the phone
when another action occurred. rang. He was reading when I rang. (Should be 'was
entered. sleeping')
25 Past Perfect: For the earlier of two past actions. When I arrived, he had already When I arrived, he already
left. (He left first) left. (Should be 'had already
left')
26 Conditional Type 1 (Real): If + Present Simple, If it rains, we will stay home. If it will rain, we will stay
Will/Can/May + V1. home. (Should be 'rains')
27 Conditional Type 2 (Unreal Present/Future): If If I had a car, I would drive to If I would have a car, I
+ Past Simple, Would/Could/Might + V1. work. would drive. (Should be
'had')
28 Conditional Type 3 (Unreal Past): If + Past If he had studied harder, he If he studied harder, he
Perfect, Would have/Could have/Might have + V3. would have passed the exam. would have passed. (Should
 SSC CGL VOCABULARY

be 'had studied')
29 Time Clauses (after "when," "as soon as," "if," I will call you when I arrive. He I will call you when I will
"until," etc.): Never use future tense in the clause. will wait until she comes. arrive. (Should be 'arrive')
IV. Articles (a, an, 30 'A' before consonant sound, 'An' before vowel A university, an honest man, a An university. (Should be
the) sound. **one-**rupee note. 'a')
31 'The' for specific or already mentioned nouns. I saw a cat. The cat was black. I saw cat. (Should be 'a cat')
32 'The' with unique things/superlatives/ordinal The sun, the best student, the Sun rises in east. (Should be
numbers. first time. 'The sun', 'the east')
33 No article before proper nouns (unless Delhi is a big city. Mount Everest The Delhi is a big city.
specified for uniqueness). is the highest peak. (Remove 'The')
34 No article before abstract nouns/uncountable Honesty is the best policy. Water The honesty is the best
nouns in general sense. is essential for life. policy. (Remove 'The')
V. Adjectives & 35 Adjectives describe nouns/pronouns; Adverbs He is a slow driver (adj.). He drives He drives slow. (Should be
Adverbs describe verbs/adjectives/other adverbs. slowly (adv.). 'slowly')
36 No Double Comparatives/Superlatives. He is wiser than his brother. He is He is more wiser. (Should
the wisest student. be 'wiser')
37 Adjectives ending in -ing vs. -ed: -ing (cause), - The movie was boring. I was I was boring. (Should be
ed (feeling). bored. 'bored')
38 "Few," "A few," "The few" (countable) vs. Few students passed. A little Little students. (Should be
"Little," "A little," "The little" (uncountable). water. The few books I had. 'Few')
39 "Elder/Eldest" (family) vs. "Older/Oldest" (age, My elder brother. He is older than He is my older brother.
non-family, things). me. (Should be 'elder')
40 "Farther" (physical distance) vs. "Further" Delhi is farther than Ghaziabad. I I need farther details.
(additional, more). need further information. (Should be 'further')
41 Adverbs of Frequency: Before main verb, after 'be' I always wake up early. He is He never is late. (Should be
verbs/auxiliaries. never late. 'is never')
VI. Prepositions 42 Fixed Prepositions: Specific prepositions used with He is good at English. She listens to He is good in English.
certain words. music. (Should be 'at')
43 "Between" (two) vs. "Among" (more than two). Divide the sweets between the two Distribute between the five
brothers. Divide the sweets among boys. (Should be 'among')
the students.
44 "Since" (point of time) vs. "For" (duration). He has been studying since He has been sick for
morning. He has been studying for Monday. (Should be 'since
three hours. Monday')
45 "Beside" (next to) vs. "Besides" (in addition to). She sat beside me. Besides Beside books, she sells
English, I know French. pens. (Should be 'Besides')
46 "Into" (motion inside) vs. "In" (location inside). He jumped into the river. He is in He jumped in the river.
the room. (Should be 'into')
47 "On time" (at scheduled time) vs. "In time" (early The train arrived on time. I arrived The meeting started in
enough). in time to catch the train. time. (Should be 'on time')
48 Preposition with Passive Voice: Often specific to He was known to me. He was He was known by me.
the verb. surprised at the news. (Generally 'to' for 'known')
VII. Conjunctions 49 Correlative Conjunctions (both...and, Both Ram and Shyam are here. He is not only honest but
neither...nor, etc.): Use in pairs and parallel. Not only honest but also hard- also works hard. (Not
working. parallel)
50 "Though/Although" with "Yet" (optional, but Though he is rich, yet he is Though he is rich, but he is
correct) or comma; avoid "but." unhappy. (Or just a comma) unhappy. (Remove 'but')
51 "Unless," "Until," "Lest" are negative; avoid "not" Unless you work hard, you will fail. Unless you do not work
in the same clause. Walk carefully lest you should fall. hard... (Redundant 'not')
52 "So...as" (negative) vs. "As...as" He is not so tall as his brother. He is He is as rich as his brother.
(positive/negative). as tall as his brother. (No error here, 'as...as' can
be positive)
53 "Scarcely/Hardly" with "When." Scarcely had he left when the Scarcely had he left than
phone rang. the phone rang. (Should be
'when')
54 "No sooner" with "Than." No sooner did he arrive than the No sooner did he arrive
guests cheered. when the guests cheered.
(Should be 'than')
VIII. Voice & 55 Active Voice: Subject performs action. (Subject + She writes a letter. A letter is written by her.
Narration Verb + Object) (Passive)
56 Passive Voice: Subject receives action. (Object + Be A letter is written by her. The ball She was writing a letter.
Verb + Past Participle + by + Agent) was hit by the boy. (Active past continuous)
57 Direct Speech: Exact words in quotation marks. He said, "I am tired." He said that he was tired.
(Indirect)
58 Indirect Speech: Reported speech; changes in He said that he was tired. She He said, "He is tired."
tense, pronouns, adverbs. asked if I was okay. (Incorrect tense in reported
speech)
IX. Other 59 Parallelism: Items in a list or comparison should She likes to swim, to run, and to She likes swimming, to
Important Rules have the same grammatical structure. cycle. (Infinitives) run, and cycling. (Mixed
forms)
60 Redundancy/Superfluous Words: Avoid He returned from the trip. The He returned back from the
unnecessary repetition of meaning. conclusion was... trip. (Redundant 'back')