How to Prepare English for SSC CGL 2016

We hope that since the notification for SSC CGL exam was released, you’ve been hard
at work. To help you along, here is a study plan on how to prepare English for
SSC CGL 2016 based on New Pattern. Now is the best time for you to start
preparing your strategies to tackle the paper.

If you aren’t sure where to begin or are looking for a more focussed style of learning,
read on. This strategy on how to prepare English for SSC CGL 2016, will help you
make a detailed plan on preparing English. You can now customize your practice to
focus on the most important topics of English in SSC CGL.

Let us start with a general understanding of the pattern of the exam.

SSC CGL 2016 Exam Pattern

SSC CGL consists of 4 stages of Tier I, Tier II, Tier III (Descriptive), Tier IV (Skills/
Proficiency Test). The first two stages are online computer based MCQ tests. Check
out the new SSC CGL 2016 Pattern here.

Tier I

Subjects No. of questions Marks Time

Allotted
General Intelligence & Reasoning 25 50 75
General Awareness 25 50 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude 25 50 total
English Language 25 50
Total 100 200

Tier II

Those who qualify in the Tier-I, have to appear for Tier-II exam. Questions are of
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) type.

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There are two compulsory papers – Quantitative Aptitude and English of 200 marks
each. Depending on post applied for you may need to prepare for a third and fourth
paper (200 marks – 2 hours) each.

Subjects No. of Marks Negative Time

questions Marking Allotted
Quantitative Ability 100 200 0.50 2 hrs
English Language & 100 200 0.25 2 hrs
Comprehension

As you can see, if you want to be selected for any post in SSC CGL examination, you
will need to attempt 125 questions in English over the two tiers. English, therefore,
has the biggest share of the SSC CGL paper. So you need to be prepared thoroughly
with English.

Tier III

This will be a descriptive paper for 100 marks that you need to attempt in 60
minutes. This will be a pen and paper based test. You will be tested either on your
English Language or Hindi Language skills. You will be asked questions such as
Essay Writing, Letter Writing, Precis Writing, Application Writing etc.

How to Prepare English for SSC CGL

The English section for the SSC CGL exam can be broadly divided into 4 parts:

1. Vocabulary
2. Grammar
3. Reading Comprehension
4. Verbal Ability

Though the first three sections (Vocab, Grammar, Reading Comprehension) are
common for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 papers. However, questions on Verbal Ability
appear only in Tier 2 exam.

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So in the time leading up to the SSC CGL Tier 1 exam, make sure you practice
Vocabulary, Grammar thoroughly. Also familiarize yourself with how to solve
Reading Comprehension questions. On the other hand, you can leave Verbal Ability
type questions (Para Jumbles etc.) till after you have taken the Tier 1 exam, before
Tier II exam.

The most important thing you can do in your preparation is take English Quizzes
daily.

Click here to take English Quizzes for SSC CGL

How to Learn VOCABULARY

1. This section is of great importance in SSC exam. The maximum number of
questions in both SSC Tier 1 and Tier 2 papers is from this section. Thus your
preparation should revolve around strengthening your vocabulary skills.

2. There are direct questions on the following topics in both Tier 1 and Tier 2
exams.
o Synonyms and Antonyms
o Phrase or Idiom Meaning
o One Word Substitution
o Spellings
o Fill in the Blanks
o Phrase Replacement

3. An additional topic for Tier 2 is Cloze Test.

4. The most interesting thing about building a vocabulary is that it doesn’t

require any extraordinary efforts. It keeps on building whether you are
reading a newspaper or a book. Whenever you come across a new word, take a
minute to look it up in a dictionary or a thesaurus. Note down its meaning,
synonyms and antonyms and its usage. At a later date, try to use these words
in sentences of your own to revise the meanings.

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 5. Solve the vocabulary sections from previous years’ papers and time yourself.
This should give you a good idea about the type of questions asked and the
difficulty level. It will also give you a fair idea about how much work you need
to do.

6. Read English for Competitive Exams Modules to get understand contextual

usage.

7. Try out mnemonic techniques to remember vocabulary.

8. Practice Vocab questions on Testbook’s app every day. Bookmark the

questions that you got wrong and practise them later to achieve accuracy.

9. Go through blogs to find articles on Vocabulary like Easily Confused Words

like this one and this one. You should also read up on topics like Cloze Test.

10. Practice sectional tests of English every day. Chart your growth through
Testbook’s analysis.

How to Practice GRAMMAR

1. There are questions on the following topics in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 exams.
o Error Spotting
o Phrase Replacement
o Fill in the Blanks

2. Additional topics in Tier 2 exam are

o Direct and Indirect Speech
o Active and Passive Voice

3. Most questions will test you on basic grammar rules, so these need to be
revised. Try going through study notes for English on the internet.

4. Search for articles on the internet relevant to the topics often asked like Error
Spotting and concepts like Degrees of Comparison.

5. Use the Testbook app extensively to practice grammar questions.

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 6. Previous year’s papers will give you a fair idea about the difficulty level of
questions. So be sure to solve the grammar section from the paper and
evaluate your performance.

7. Take mock tests in SSC CGL 2016 test series and pay special attention to the
solutions.

How to Tackle COMPREHENSION

1. It is the easiest, most scoring section of English. The questions will be directly
based on the content of the passage. But you must be alert while choosing the
correct option as the options sometimes are very similar.

2. Though the passages are short, the habit of reading fast and understanding
the intent of the passage needs to be developed to minimize the time and
maximize the output.

3. Practise one comprehension question daily from questions available on the

Testbook app. Constant practice will help you achieve accuracy and minimize
the time required.

How to Excel in VERBAL ABILITY

1. This section is only tested in Tier 2 exam. It consists of questions on
o Sentence Jumbles
o Paragraph Jumbles (Para jumbles)

2. Practise these questions occasionally when you want to take a break from your
Tier 1 preparations and need a change.

3. Follow logic while answering these questions. Always keep in mind the overall
story, as the passage will always tell you a story with a definite beginning,
middle and end.

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Breakup of English in Tier I and Tier II Exams
The table below gives a brief outline of the paper pattern for English in both Tier 1
and Tier 2 predicted based on NEW pattern.

Topic Subtopic Tier I Tier II

Vocabulary Synonyms and Antonyms 2-3 0-5
Fill in the blanks 1-2 0-2
Cloze test 0 10
Spellings 1-2 0-5
Idioms and Phrases 1-2 5
One word substitution 4-5 5
Phrase Replacement 1-2 5-10
Grammar Phrase Replacement 2-3 5-10
Sentence correction/ Error Spotting 2-3 10
Active & Passive Voice 0 10
Direct-indirect 0 10
Fill in the blanks 2-3 0-2
Reading Comprehension 5 15-20
Verbal Ability Sentence Jumbles 0 5-10
Para Jumbles 0 5
TOTAL 25 100

Pro-tip: This section is the trickiest and can lure you to make wild guesses. Keep
away from the guess work or else you will be trapped and will end up with negative
marks.

Final Wise Words

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Also read:

How to Prepare General Awareness for SSC CGL

Liked this Guide to Prepare English for SSC CGL exam? Also read this:

5 Time Management Strategies for SSC CGL Tier I

Previous Years’ SSC CGL Cut Offs

7 Tips to Simultaneously Prepare for SBI PO Mains & SSC CGL

Tier I

500+ GK Questions for SSC CGL Exam in PDF

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