Grammar 100 Golden Rules

How SSC Tests Grammar, and the Core Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement

This chapter shows where grammar carries marks in each SSC English section, from the latest notices, and teaches Rules 1 to 8, the core of subject-verb agreement. Agreement errors are built to be missed: a long phrase separates subject and verb, and English verbs show number in only a few forms.

KarmSakha preparation topics covered

• English sections of SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS, Stenographer, SI and Constable (GD): questions, marks, timing, deductions
• Grammar formats: spot the error, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks, voice and narration
• The five-step error-checking routine and guessing under negative marking
• Rule 1: the head noun of the subject decides the verb
• Rules 2 and 3: subjects joined by 'and'; one determiner for one person
• Rule 4: add-on phrases such as as well as, along with and together with
• Rules 5 and 6: each, every, the every-, some-, any- and no- pronouns; either and neither
• Rules 7 and 8: or, nor and paired conjunctions; 'one of' and 'one of those who'

Where grammar earns marks: SSC English sections in the 2025-26 notices

The table takes each examination's English part from its latest notice; the MTS row uses the MTS 2025 notice, the latest MTS notice this edition could verify; a later MTS notice, if published, may change the figures. For Tier-II and MTS the English marks shown are those of the section or session, not the whole paper. Two columns decide strategy: marks per question (1 to 3) and the deduction per wrong answer (0.25 to 1). In Stenographer and SI Paper-I a wrong answer costs a quarter mark; in CGL Tier-II, CHSL Tier-II and MTS Session-II it costs a full mark. The other parts of CGL papers are set in English and Hindi, and those of CHSL in English, Hindi and the regional language a candidate opts for; the English parts are set only in English (CGL para 13.8.1; CHSL paras 13.8.1 and 13.9.10).

The notices describe the English part in different words. CGL Tier-I tests the 'ability to understand correct English, his basic comprehension and writing ability' (para 13.10.4), and the Stenographer notice lists vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, synonyms, antonyms and correct usage, and also tests writing ability (para 14.4). The fullest list is the CHSL 2026 Tier-I syllabus (para 13.10.1), set out in full below. Spot the error, fill in the blanks, improvement, voice and narration are grammar items; synonyms, spellings, idioms and comprehension test vocabulary and reading, which this book does not teach.

Qualifying marks raise the stakes. CGL (para 16.1) and CHSL (para 17.1) set minimums of 30 per cent (UR), 25 per cent (OBC and EWS) and 20 per cent (others) for Tier-I and each Tier-II section. The SI pattern changed in 2026: the 2025 notice had 50 English questions in Paper-I, a 200-mark English Paper-II and selection on both papers; the 2026 notice has 25 English marks in Paper-I, 200 of 320 marks in a longer-weighted Paper-II (100 questions; paras 12.1 and 12.9.1.4), and selection on Paper-II alone (para 16.6), with NCC bonus marks (para 16.8).

• Spot the Error
• Fill in the Blanks
• Synonyms/ Homonyms
• Antonyms
• Spellings/ Detecting mis-spelt words
• Idioms & Phrases
• One word substitution
• Improvement of Sentences
• Active/ Passive Voice of Verbs
• Conversion into Direct/ Indirect narration
• Shuffling of Sentence parts
• Shuffling of Sentences in a passage
• Cloze Passage
• Comprehension Passage

The four grammar question formats and a five-step error-spotting routine

Four formats test grammar. Spot the error splits a sentence into segments, with 'No error' as the last option, and the task is to find the segment that breaks a rule. Sentence improvement replaces one bracketed part with one of three alternatives, or 'No improvement'. Fill in the blanks offers four words for a gap, usually verb forms, prepositions, articles or determiners. Voice and narration gives four rewrites of one sentence; wrong rewrites usually differ by one tense, pronoun or word-order change (Chapter 9).

Negative marking turns guessing into arithmetic. With k options left, a guess has expected score (1/k) x mark - ((k - 1)/k) x deduction. Under +3/-1 a blind guess among four is worth exactly zero; under every scheme in the table, removing two options on a firm rule makes a guess worth taking. Run the checks in a fixed order: agreement and tense errors show in a single word and are quick to confirm, so finding them first saves time spent on a preposition when the real fault is the verb.

• Step 1, subject and verb: find the true subject, then check its verb (Chapters 1 and 2).
• Step 2, verb form: test tense against since, ago, by the time, if and when (Chapters 7 and 8).
• Step 3, pronouns, articles, determiners: check case, a/an/the, few and less (Chapters 3 and 4).
• Step 4, modifiers, prepositions, conjunction partners: check comparisons and pairs such as neither ... nor (Chapters 5, 6, 10 and 11).
• Step 5, structure: check parallel forms, dangling phrases and redundancy (Chapter 11).

Rules 1 and 2: The verb agrees with the true subject; 'and' joins subjects into a plural

Rule 1. The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, the noun the subject is about, not with the noun next to the verb. In 'The quality of these mangoes is poor', the head is 'quality'; 'mangoes' sits in an of-phrase that only describes it. SSC sentences put an of-phrase, a prepositional phrase or a relative clause between head and verb, and make the nearest noun plural. Bracket everything that begins with a preposition or with who, which or that, then read the head straight into the verb.

Two patterns look like Rule 1 but are not. After 'half of', 'a lot of' and percentages, the verb follows the noun after 'of' ('Half of the mangoes are rotten'; Rule 17), and 'a number of' against 'the number of' is Rule 9. Treat these as exceptions, or Rule 1 will tempt you to change a correct sentence. The opposite slip is stripping too much: in 'The design and the cost of the bridge are under review', 'design' and 'cost' are both heads joined by 'and', so the plural stands.

Rule 2. Two or more subjects joined by 'and' take a plural verb: 'Ravi and Meena are late'; 'The heat and the dust were unbearable'. Cambridge states it plainly: where there is more than one subject joined by 'and', the verb is plural. SSC sentences hide the plural by giving each half its own of-phrase with a singular noun, as in 'The colour of the door and the shape of the window were pleasing', or by delaying the second subject until a reader has settled on a singular verb.

The exception is a pair naming one thing: one dish, idea or fixed unit. 'Bread and butter is his breakfast'; 'Slow and steady wins the race'. Test whether a single noun ('his meal', 'steadiness') could replace the pair without changing the sense. Do not stretch it: 'Rice and wheat are dearer this year' names two commodities and stays plural, even though they are often mentioned together. A pair introduced by 'each' or 'every' takes a singular verb whatever it means (Rule 5).

Rules 3 and 4: One article for one person; 'as well as', 'along with' and other add-on phrases

Rule 3. When two nouns joined by 'and' share one article or determiner, they normally name one person in two roles, and the verb is singular: 'The secretary and treasurer has resigned'. Repeat the article and there are two people: 'The secretary and the treasurer have resigned'. The same signal works with possessives: 'My friend and guide was waiting' is one person, while 'my friend and my guide were waiting' is two. Exam sentences often pair the article pattern with a contradicting verb.

Rule 3 applies only where both nouns could describe the same person: owner and manager, poet and critic, guide and friend. Where they cannot, a single determiner is mere economy and the verb stays plural: 'My brother and sister live in Kochi'; 'The pen and pencil are in the drawer'. Do not 'correct' 'My uncle and aunt are visiting' to a singular, because no reading makes them one person. Ask whether both nouns can describe one individual; the answer settles the verb.

Rule 4. Phrases such as as well as, along with, together with, with, in addition to, besides, accompanied by, including, like, rather than, and not and no less than attach extra information to the first noun, which remains the only subject: 'The captain, as well as the players, was tired'. Cambridge classes 'as well as' as a multi-word preposition meaning 'in addition to'. SSC sentences make the added noun plural and place it just before the verb, so a plural verb sounds natural; lift the phrase out and the true subject reappears.

Three points keep Rule 4 sound. A plural first subject keeps a plural verb whatever follows: 'The villagers, along with their sarpanch, have met the collector'. With 'and not' and 'rather than', the verb agrees with the affirmed noun: 'The manager, and not his assistants, is to blame'; turned round, 'Not the manager but his assistants are to blame'. Links that take the nearer subject, such as either ... or, belong to Rule 7, and a real 'and' is Rule 2.