Grammar Basics

Learning Objectives

• Identify and correctly use all 8 parts of speech in SSC CGL contexts
• Master all 12 tense forms with time-reference and aspect rules
• Apply subject-verb agreement rules to solve error-detection questions
• Use articles, prepositions, and conjunctions accurately in fillers and cloze tests
• Recognize common SSC CGL error patterns across grammar topics

1. Parts of Speech

In SSC CGL English, Parts of Speech form the foundation of every grammar question. The exam tests your ability to identify word functions in sentences, choose correct forms, and spot errors in usage. There are eight parts of speech in English.

Part of Speech	Function	Examples	SSC CGL Importance
Noun	Names a person, place, thing, or idea	Ram, Delhi, table, honesty	High — Number & Gender rules
Pronoun	Replaces a noun	he, she, it, they, who	High — Case & Agreement errors
Verb	Shows action or state	run, is, have, write	High — Tense & Auxiliary errors
Adjective	Describes a noun	tall, beautiful, five	Medium — Degrees of Comparison
Adverb	Modifies verb/adjective/adverb	quickly, very, quite	Medium — Position in sentence
Preposition	Shows relationship	in, on, at, by, for	High — Fixed collocations
Conjunction	Connects words/clauses	and, but, or, because	Medium — Paired conjunctions
Interjection	Expresses emotion	oh!, alas!, hurray!	Low — Rarely tested alone

Noun

Types (Proper, Common, Abstract, Collective)

Proper Noun: Names a specific entity — India, Mahatma Gandhi, The Ganges. Always capitalised.
Common Noun: General name — country, man, river.
Abstract Noun: Idea or quality — honesty, bravery, wisdom. Cannot be perceived by senses.
Collective Noun: Group as one unit — team, committee, flock, jury.

Number & Gender Rules

Number: Singular → Plural. Regular: add -s/-es (cat→cats, box→boxes). Irregular: man→men, child→children, foot→feet, mouse→mice, phenomenon→phenomena.
Gender: Masculine (actor, tiger, hero), Feminine (actress, tigress, heroine), Neuter (table, book). SSC CGL often tests pronoun agreement: "The judge delivered his verdict."

Pronoun

Types (Personal, Reflexive, Relative, Demonstrative)

Personal: I, we, you, he, she, it, they (subject); me, us, him, her, them (object).
Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves.
Relative: who, whom, which, that, whose — connect clauses.
Demonstrative: this, that, these, those — point to nouns.

Case & Agreement

Subjective Case: I, he, she, we, they, who — used as subject.
Objective Case: me, him, her, us, them, whom — used as object.
Possessive Case: my/mine, his, her/hers, our/ours, their/theirs, whose.
Agreement Rule: A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person. "Each student should bring his/her textbook." (not 'their' in formal SSC English)

Verb

Main vs Auxiliary

Main Verb: Carries the primary meaning — run, eat, write, think.
Auxiliary (Helping) Verb: Helps the main verb — be, have, do, will, shall, can, may, must, should, would, could, might.
Primary Auxiliaries: is, am, are, was, were, been, being; have, has, had; do, does, did.
Modal Auxiliaries: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, need, dare, used to.

Transitive & Intransitive

Transitive Verb: Requires a direct object — She wrote a letter.
Intransitive Verb: Does not take a direct object — She sleeps.
SSC Note: Some verbs work both ways — He runs a business. (transitive) vs He runs fast. (intransitive)

Adjective

Degrees of Comparison

Positive: tall — "He is tall."
Comparative: taller — "He is taller than me."
Superlative: tallest — "He is the tallest in the class."

Rules: 1-syllable → -er/-est. 2-syllable ending in -y → -ier/-iest. 3+ syllables → more/most. Irregular: good→better→best, bad→worse→worst, little→less→least, far→farther/further→farthest/furthest.

Adverb

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They answer how, when, where, how often, to what extent.
Types: Manner (quickly, slowly), Time (now, then), Place (here, there), Frequency (always, never, often), Degree (very, quite, almost).
SSC Position Rules: Adverbs of frequency come BEFORE the main verb but AFTER auxiliary verbs. "She often visits" ✓ "She is always late" ✓ "She has never been" ✓.

Preposition

Prepositions show relationships of time, place, direction. SSC CGL frequently tests fixed prepositional collocations.

Conjunction

Coordinating: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so (FANBOYS).
Subordinating: because, although, while, since, unless, if, when, after, before.
Correlative: either...or, neither...nor, both...and, not only...but also.

Interjection

Express sudden emotion: Oh!, Alas!, Hurray!, Bravo!, What!, Ah!. Rarely tested directly in SSC CGL.

2. Tenses

Tenses indicate the time of an action or state. SSC CGL heavily tests tense usage in error-detection and fill-in-the-blank questions. There are 3 main tenses (Present, Past, Future) × 4 aspects (Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous) = 12 tense forms.

Tense	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	V₁/V₁+s/es I write	is/am/are + V₁+ing I am writing	has/have + V₃ I have written	has/have been + V₁+ing I have been writing
Past	V₂ I wrote	was/were + V₁+ing I was writing	had + V₃ I had written	had been + V₁+ing I had been writing
Future	will/shall + V₁ I will write	will be + V₁+ing I will be writing	will have + V₃ I will have written	will have been + V₁+ing I will have been writing

Present Tense

Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous

Simple Present: Habits, universal truths, scheduled events. "The sun rises in the east." "I go to office daily." "The train leaves at 6 PM."
Present Continuous: Ongoing action at the time of speaking. "I am studying for SSC CGL."
Present Perfect: Past action with present relevance. "I have completed my syllabus."
Present Perfect Continuous: Started in past, continues to present. "I have been studying since morning."

Past Tense

Simple Past: Completed past action. "I saw that movie yesterday."
Past Continuous: Ongoing past action. "I was sleeping when you called."
Past Perfect: Action completed before another past action. "I had finished dinner before he arrived."
Past Perfect Continuous: Duration before another past action. "I had been waiting for two hours when she came."

Future Tense

Simple Future: Will/Shall + V₁ — prediction, promise, spontaneous decision.
Future Continuous: Will be + V₁+ing — action in progress at a future time.
Future Perfect: Will have + V₃ — action completed before a future time.
Future Perfect Continuous: Will have been + V₁+ing — duration up to a future time.

Sequence of Tenses

Rule 1: If main clause is Present/Future, subordinate clause can be in ANY tense. "I know that he is/was/will be a doctor." (All correct)
Rule 2: If main clause is Past, subordinate clause MUST be in a Past tense. "I knew that he was a doctor." ✓ "I knew that he is a doctor." ✗ (Exception: universal truths — "The teacher said the earth is round.")

Common Errors in Tenses

Error Type	Incorrect	Correct	Rule
Present Perfect vs Simple Past	I have seen that movie yesterday.	I saw that movie yesterday.	Simple Past with definite past time markers
Since vs For	I am studying since 2 hours.	I have been studying for 2 hours.	Since + point; For + duration
Past Perfect missing	When she came, I ate dinner.	When she came, I had eaten dinner.	Earlier action needs Past Perfect
Will in time clauses	I will call when I will reach.	I will call when I reach.	Time clauses use Present tense for future
Stative + Continuous	I am knowing the answer.	I know the answer.	Stative verbs (know, believe, own) no -ing
Have vs Had confusion	I had completed my work. (no 2nd action)	I have completed my work.	No second past action → Present Perfect

3. Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement is the most tested grammar topic in SSC CGL. The rule: singular subject → singular verb; plural subject → plural verb. SSC CGL tests this through tricky constructions where the true subject is hidden.

Basic Rules

• Rule 1: Two singular subjects joined by 'and' take a plural verb. "Ram and Shyam are brothers."
• Rule 2: Subjects joined by 'or/either...or/neither...nor' take a verb agreeing with the nearest subject. "Neither the teacher nor the students were present."
• Rule 3: 'Each', 'Every', 'Either', 'Neither', 'Many a' are always singular. "Each of the students has passed." "Many a man has died."
• Rule 4: Words like 'with', 'together with', 'along with', 'as well as' do NOT make a singular subject plural. "The teacher, along with the students, is going."

Special Cases

Each/Every, Either/Neither, Collective Nouns

Each/Every: Always singular. "Every boy and every girl has been given a book." ✗ "have"
Either/Neither: Singular when used alone. "Neither of the answers is correct."
Collective Nouns: Singular (unit) or plural (individuals). "The committee has decided." / "The committee have disagreed among themselves."

SSC CGL Error Patterns

Pattern	Incorrect Example	Correction
Prepositional phrase confusion	The box of chocolates are on the table.	The box of chocolates is on the table.
Either/Or proximity	Either the students or the teacher are wrong.	Either the students or the teacher is wrong.
Each/Every + plural verb	Every student have to submit.	Every student has to submit.
One of + plural noun	One of the boys are missing.	One of the boys is missing.
Collective noun confusion	The team were playing well (as unit).	The team was playing well.
Uncountable nouns	The furniture are expensive.	The furniture is expensive.

4. Articles

A/An (indefinite) — non-specific. The (definite) — specific. SSC CGL tests articles in fill-in-the-blank, error-detection, and cloze tests.

Article	Usage	Examples	SSC Exception
A	Before consonant sounds	a book, a university, a European, a one-rupee note	'A' before 'university' (yu sound) — NOT 'an university'
An	Before vowel sounds	an apple, an hour, an honest man, an MBA	'An' before 'hour' (silent h) — NOT 'a hour'
The	Specific noun, unique entities, superlatives, ordinals, rivers/oceans/mountains	the sun, the biggest, the first, the Ganges, the Himalayas	No article before proper nouns — "I visited Delhi."
∅ (No Article)	Plural/generic uncountable, meals, games, languages	Milk is healthy. I play cricket. She speaks French.	Fixed: by bus, at home, in bed, go to school, on foot

5. Prepositions

Prepositions show relationship between a noun/pronoun and other sentence parts. SSC CGL tests fixed prepositional collocations heavily.

Type	Preposition	Usage	Examples
Time	at	Specific time, festivals, points	at 5 PM, at midnight, at Diwali, at the moment
	in	Months, years, seasons, parts of day	in January, in 2024, in summer, in the morning
	on	Days, dates, specific days	on Monday, on 15th August, on my birthday
	by	Deadline, before a specific time	by 5 PM, by next week, by Friday
Place	at	Specific point or location	at the door, at the bus stop, at home
	in	Enclosed space, area, city, country	in the room, in Delhi, in India
	on	Surface, street, floor	on the table, on Park Street, on the second floor
	between	Two entities	between Ram and Shyam
Fixed Collocations (SSC Favorites)	on	—	comment on, depend on, insist on, rely on, congratulate on
	of	—	accuse of, approve of, consist of, dream of, think of
	for	—	ask for, care for, pay for, search for, wait for, hope for
	to	—	addicted to, belong to, contribute to, lead to, listen to, reply to
	with	—	agree with, compare with, deal with, provide with, sympathise with
	in	—	believe in, succeed in, interested in, engaged in, involved in

6. Clauses & Phrases

Phrase: A group of words without a subject-verb combination. "in the morning", "on the table", "having completed his work".
Clause: A group of words with a subject and a verb. "when the sun rises", "because he was ill".

Types of Clauses

Independent Clause: Can stand alone. "She sings beautifully."
Dependent Clause: Cannot stand alone. "When she sings" (needs more).

Noun Clause: Acts as a noun. "What he said is true."
Adjective Clause: Acts as an adjective. "The book that you gave me is excellent."
Adverb Clause: Acts as an adverb. "He came after the meeting ended."

Types of Phrases

Noun Phrase: Acting as a noun. "The tall man in the blue shirt" is my neighbour.
Verb Phrase: Main verb + auxiliaries. "She has been waiting."
Prepositional Phrase: Preposition + object. "He sat on the chair."
Infinitive Phrase: To + verb. "I want to learn English."
Gerund Phrase: V+ing as noun. "Swimming is good exercise."
Participial Phrase: V+ing/V₃ as adjective. "Walking quickly, he reached the station."