Grammar Essentials (Handbook)
🔒 Log in to trackA complete working grammar for SSC: parts of speech, tenses, subject-verb agreement, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, modals, conditionals, comparison, question tags, non-finites and inversion. It is rarely asked by name, but it decides roughly 7 Tier 1 questions (error spotting, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks, voice and narration) and about 10 in Tier 2.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
5 exam-level questions worked step by step.
98 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Test difficulty mix (98 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
Error spotting in divided sentence parts
very commonThe sentence is split by slashes into four parts; one part holds a grammar fault and the other three are clean.
How to solve: Test the usual suspects in order: verb agreement with the real subject (cover of/as well as phrases), tense after signal words, article by sound, fixed preposition, modal + base verb. The part whose correction you can state is the error.
Example: The principal, as well as the teachers, / were present / at the annual function / held last Friday.
Cover 'as well as the teachers': subject = principal (singular) → 'were present' is the error; it should be was present.
Fill in the blank: verb form and tense
very commonA sentence with one blank where all four options are verb forms (V1/V2/V3, had been, has been, will be).
How to solve: Find the signal word (ago, since, tomorrow, as soon as, before) and decide whether the action is finished, running, or earlier than another action. Read the tense row off the signal, and never put will inside a time or if clause.
Example: My uncle ___ in Canada since 2019.
since + still living → present perfect continuous: has been living.
Sentence improvement (substitute the highlighted segment)
very commonA segment is printed in bold and the options are possible substitutes, often including 'No substitution required'.
How to solve: State the correct form first, then look for it among the options. If the bold segment is already right, choose no substitution — but only after testing agreement, tense sequence and modal + base verb rules.
Example: If you would have told me earlier, I would have helped you.
Third conditional if-clause takes had + V3: had told.
Question tag selection
commonA full sentence with a trailing comma sits before the blank; the options are auxiliary + pronoun pairs.
How to solve: Copy the sentence's auxiliary, flip the polarity (positive sentence → negative tag), and replace the subject with its pronoun. For special sentences use the fixed tags: Let's → shall we, command → will you, I am → aren't I, nobody → they.
Example: Nobody called while I was out, ___
Nobody → they, and the clause is positive → did they?
Choosing the grammatically correct sentence
commonFour complete sentences differ in one grammar point each — comparison form, tag, preposition or verb form.
How to solve: Name the point under test and apply its rule to all four: one marker per comparison, than any other inside the group, fixed preposition pairs, no will in the if-clause. The sentence that survives every rule wins.
Example: (a) Everest is highest peak... (b) Everest is higher than any other peak in the world. (c) Everest is more high... (d) Everest is the most higher...
(b) — comparative + than any other, exactly one marker.
Fixed preposition and conjunction fill
very commonThe blank follows an adjective, noun or verb (fond, good, angry, insist) or completes a pair begun by no sooner / hardly / not only.
How to solve: Recall the governing word's fixed pair (fond of, good at, angry at a thing) or the correlative's partner (no sooner...than, hardly...when). Reject the preposition that fits the meaning generally but not this word.
Example: She is not capable ___ handling the project alone.
The fixed pair is capable of + V-ing.
Article and determiner choice
commonThe blank sits before a noun whose a/an/the/zero choice is tested — often hour, MLA, university, a superlative, or a school/meals context.
How to solve: Hear the first sound for a/an (an hour, an MLA; a university, a one-rupee coin). Check the the-triggers: second mention, unique things, superlatives, rivers, directions. Zero article with languages, meals and purpose-use nouns like school.
Example: He waited for ___ hour at the bus stop.
'Hour' begins with a silent h, vowel sound → an hour.
Word-form (part of speech) choice
commonAll four options are forms of one family (succeed/success/successful/successfully) and the blank has a fixed slot job.
How to solve: Decide the job the slot needs: after the/of/his → noun; before a noun → adjective; after an action verb → adverb; after a modal → verb. Uncountables (advice, furniture, information) never take -s.
Example: Hard work is the key to ___.
Noun needed after 'the key to' → success.
Non-finites and inversion items
commonEither the blank follows a set verb or preposition (avoid, enjoy, look forward to, made him), or the sentence opens with No sooner / Hardly / Never / Not only.
How to solve: Non-finites: preposition or gerund-list verb → V-ing; to-list verbs (promise, decide) → to + V1; make/let/see/hear → bare V1. Inversion: negative opener → auxiliary before subject, with the fixed partner than/when.
Example: No sooner the bell rang / than the students / rushed out / of the classroom. Find the error.
Negative opener needs inversion: 'No sooner had the bell rung' — the first part is the error.