CDS English · Reading Comprehension
Sentence pairs: confirm, contrast, contradict or qualify
Two sentences, S1 and S2, are given. You decide how the second relates to the first: it confirms it, contrasts with it, contradicts it, or qualifies it.
Why this matters
Recent CDS papers include a block of these sentence-pair items, with no passage to read. Each takes seconds once you ask the right questions in the right order. Without that order, contrast and contradiction blur into 'opposite', and qualify and contradict blur into 'disagrees'.
Concept 1 of 3: Contradict or contrast: can both be true?
Contradict and contrast both feel like 'opposite'. One question separates them: can both sentences be true at the same time? If not, S2 contradicts S1. If yes, and they are about different things set side by side, S2 contrasts with S1.
Definition
The terms:
- Contradict / negate: S2 makes S1 false. Both cannot be true.
- Contrast: S2 sets a different case beside S1. Both can be true.
The method for every pair, in this order:
- Name the subject of each sentence. Same person or thing, or different ones?
- Ask: can both be true at the same moment?
- No: S2 contradicts S1. Typical signs: never against did; all against some do not; the tallest against a taller one; an expected effect against the opposite result.
- Yes, and different subjects (two people, two places, two approaches): S2 contrasts with S1.
- Yes, and the same subject: go on to qualify or confirm (the next two concepts).
- Ignore how strongly the two sentences feel opposite. Only the both-true test decides.
Worked example
S1: No student in the class passed the swimming test. S2: Anjali, a student in the class, passed the swimming test. The second sentence (a) contradicts the first (b) contrasts with the first (c) confirms the first (d) qualifies the first
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q93Easy
Example 1 · Reading Comprehension · Sentence Pairs: Confirm, Contrast, Contradict, Qualify
Directions: In the following items a pair of sentences (S1, S2) is given. Select the most appropriate and relevant co-relationship of the second sentence to the first from among the options (a), (b), (c) and (d), and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
S1: Mohan enjoys classical music.
S2: Sohan likes popular musical genres.
Feeling opposite is not contradiction
Hot Delhi and cold Shimla feel opposite, but both can be true, so the answer is contrast. Contradiction needs S2 to make S1 false.
An expected effect, then the opposite result
S1: the medicine was supposed to lower the fever. S2: the temperature kept rising. S2 cancels the expected effect, so it negates (contradicts) the first. It is not a contrast, because there is only one subject.
New names for the same relation
Negates means contradicts; affirms means confirms. An option like quantifies names something S2 does not do (give a number or amount); cut it.
Concept 2 of 3: Qualify: S2 limits S1 without denying it
To qualify a claim is to narrow it: keep it, but add a limit, an exception or a weak point. S1 is still mostly true after S2. Watch for however, but, though, except, only, slightly, could be better.
Definition
The terms:
- Qualify: S2 accepts S1 but limits its reach with an exception, a condition or a shortcoming.
The method:
- Run the both-true test first. If both can be true and S2 is about the SAME subject, ask: does S2 narrow S1?
- Signs: however, but, though, except, only, slightly, in some cases, a drawback, a group for whom S1 does not hold.
- S1 hedged (usually, many, most, generally) plus an exception in S2: qualifies. A hedged claim allows exceptions, so it survives.
- S1 absolute (all, every, never, no) plus a counter-case in S2: contradicts. An absolute claim does not survive one exception.
- Praise in S1 plus a weak point of the same thing in S2: qualifies.
Worked example
S1: The new rifle is accurate at long range. S2: Its weight, though, tires soldiers on long marches. The second sentence (a) contradicts the first (b) contrasts with the first (c) confirms the first (d) qualifies the first
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q91Moderate
Example 2 · Reading Comprehension · Sentence Pairs: Confirm, Contrast, Contradict, Qualify
Directions: In the following items a pair of sentences (S1, S2) is given. Select the most appropriate and relevant co-relationship of the second sentence to the first from among the options (a), (b), (c) and (d), and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
S1: Many students failed in the examination.
S2: However, those who attended extra classes did not fail.
'However' does not mean contradict
Most qualifying sentences start with however or but. That word only signals a turn. Ask whether S1 survives. If it does, the answer is qualifies.
Hedged claim or absolute claim?
Read the strength word in S1. 'Usually', 'many', 'most' leave room for an exception, so an exception qualifies. 'All', 'every', 'never' leave no room, so a counter-case contradicts.
Qualify or contrast?
If S2 talks about the same subject and narrows it, it qualifies. If S2 brings in a different subject, it contrasts.
Concept 3 of 3: Confirm: S2 is evidence for S1
S2 confirms S1 when it backs it up: a study, a result, an example, or the same message in other words. After reading S2, you believe S1 more.
Definition
The terms:
- Confirm / affirm: S2 supports S1 as evidence, as an example, or by saying the same thing.
The method:
- Both can be true and the subject is the same. Ask: does S2 make S1 more believable?
- Evidence signs: research, a study, figures, a result that follows from the claim (an award after a fine performance).
- Two sayings with the same message confirm each other.
- If S2 only adds a separate fact on the same topic, it does not confirm.
- If S2 supports S1 but also narrows it, it qualifies instead.
Worked example
S1: The new training plan has improved the battalion's fitness. S2: The battalion's average run time has fallen by two minutes since the plan began. The second sentence (a) contradicts the first (b) contrasts with the first (c) confirms the first (d) qualifies the first
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2026 · CDS (II) 2026 — English · Q94Easy
Example 3 · Reading Comprehension · Sentence Pairs: Confirm, Contrast, Contradict, Qualify
Directions: In the following items a pair of sentences (S1, S2) is given. Select the most appropriate and relevant co-relationship of the second sentence to the first from among the options (a), (b), (c) and (d), and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
S1: Global warming is accelerating with each passing year.
S2: Recent studies indicate that temperatures are rising across continents.
Same topic is not confirmation
S2 must make S1 more believable. A fact that is merely about the same thing, such as where a crop is grown, does not confirm a claim about its health value.
Support with a limit
If S2 backs S1 for some cases and not others, it qualifies. Confirm needs support with no 'but'.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Watch out for (8)
- Feeling opposite is not contradiction→ Contradict or contrast: can both be true?
- An expected effect, then the opposite result→ Contradict or contrast: can both be true?
- New names for the same relation→ Contradict or contrast: can both be true?
- 'However' does not mean contradict→ Qualify: S2 limits S1 without denying it
- Hedged claim or absolute claim?→ Qualify: S2 limits S1 without denying it
- Qualify or contrast?→ Qualify: S2 limits S1 without denying it
- Same topic is not confirmation→ Confirm: S2 is evidence for S1
- Support with a limit→ Confirm: S2 is evidence for S1
Test yourself on Reading Comprehension
25 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 25 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.