SSC CGL English · Grammar
Sentence Grammar
Grammar inside one sentence: the tense and conditional a sentence needs, the connectors and relative words that join its clauses, articles and parts of speech, and phrasal verbs and fixed prepositions.
Why this matters
One hundred and five questions in the bank, 25 from the 2023 shifts, 16 from the 2024 shifts and 64 from the 2025 shifts. The 2025 shifts added a new kind of question here: naming the tense of a sentence or the grammatical job of a phrase.
Concept 1 of 4: Tense and conditionals
The time words and the other verb fix the tense. Of two past actions, the earlier takes the past perfect; by + a future time takes the future perfect; an if-clause pairs the present with will, the past with would, and had with would have.
Definition
- Two past actions: the earlier takes the past perfect: "The film had started before we arrived".
- By next year, by the time + present: the future perfect: "will have finished".
- For the past two months, since: the present perfect continuous: "have been working".
- Conditionals: if + present, will; if + past, would; had + participle (or "Had I ..."), would have + participle.
- Time clauses about the future take the present: "when she comes".
- Scarcely had ... when, no sooner had ... than: the second action is in the simple past.
- It is essential (or imperative) that + base form: "that he be present".
- Naming a tense: read the helping verb and the main verb's form: "has been working" is the present perfect continuous.
Worked example
Fill the blank: By next March, she ___ here for ten years. (a) works (b) will have worked (c) worked (d) had worked
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SSC CGL · 2024 · Tier I, 26 Sep 2024, Shift 2 · Q85Easy
Example 1 · Grammar · Sentence Grammar
Select the most appropriate verb / verb phrase to fill in the blank.
The team ________________ the championship before their star player got injured.
Will in the time clause
"When she will come, I will tell her" is wrong; the when-clause takes the present: "When she comes".
The simple past for the earlier action
When two past actions are told, the one that happened first takes had + participle.
Concept 2 of 4: Connectors and relative clauses
Joining words must fit both their partner and the sense: neither with nor, so with that, rather than for a preference. A negative opener such as not until inverts the main clause. Which follows a comma for a thing, whose shows possession, and when or where follows a time or place.
Definition
- Pairs: neither ... nor, either ... or, no sooner ... than, scarcely ... when, so ... that, rather than.
- Not until, only after invert the main clause: "Not until he left did I understand".
- Relative words: who for people, which for things (and always after a comma; never that), whose for possession, when after a time, where after a place.
- Concession: nevertheless, nonetheless for "in spite of that".
- Given + a noun phrase means considering: "Given the cost, we waited".
- A relative clause is an adjective clause: it describes the noun before it.
Worked example
Fill the blank: Not until the rain stopped ___ out. (a) we went (b) did we go (c) we did go (d) went we
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SSC CGL · 2025 · Tier I, 17 Sep 2025, Shift 3 · Q84Easy
Example 2 · Grammar · Sentence Grammar
Fill in the blank with the correct inversion structure:
No sooner had he entered the room _____ the fire alarm went off.
That after a comma
A clause between commas that describes a thing takes which: "the bridge, which was built in 1890". That cannot follow a comma this way.
No inversion after not until
"Not until the rain stopped we went out" is wrong; the main clause must invert: "did we go out".
Concept 3 of 4: Articles, agreement and parts of speech
Many questions here test one small word: a or an by sound, the for something particular, a verb that agrees with its true subject, an adverb for a verb, an interjection that fits the feeling, and the job a phrase does in its sentence.
Definition
- Articles: a or an by sound (an Indian, a European, a UFO); the with superlatives, ordinals (the sixth day) and things made particular; none before a person's name.
- Agreement: along with and as well as do not change the number; each of takes a singular verb; neither ... nor agrees with the nearer subject.
- Too and so: too + adjective + to (too heavy to lift); so + adjective + that.
- Adverbs: a verb takes an adverb: spoke fluently.
- Interjections match the feeling: wow for wonder, ouch for pain, alas for sorrow, hurrah for joy.
- A phrase's job: a participle phrase ("offering a direct link") often works like an adverb; a phrase that opens the sentence can modify the whole main clause.
- Comparison: of all + the + superlative (the most cost-effective).
Worked example
Choose the correct sentence: (a) He is a honest man. (b) He is an honest man. (c) He is the honest man of all. (d) He is honest a man.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SSC CGL · 2023 · Tier I, 17 Jul 2023, Shift 2 · Q87Easy
Example 3 · Grammar · Sentence Grammar
Identify the sentence that correctly uses the indefinite article.
An article chosen by the letter
It is the first sound that counts: an hour, an honest man, but a one-way street and a European.
An interjection for the wrong feeling
Ouch is pain and brr is cold. A sentence full of wonder needs wow, not either of them.
Concept 4 of 4: Phrasal verbs and fixed prepositions
A phrasal verb's meaning belongs to the whole phrase, not its parts: put off means postpone, take over means assume control, phase out means withdraw gradually. Many verbs and adjectives fix the preposition after them: comply with, insist on, addicted to, dispose of.
Definition
The groups:
- Phrasal verbs asked: see the table; the small word changes the meaning (call off is cancel, call on is urge or visit).
- Fixed prepositions: dispose of (get rid of), addicted to, comply with, insist on, subordinate to, opt against, a discussion of, under these conditions.
- Fast route: cover the options, say what the sentence means in one plain word (postpone, reduce, avoid), then find the phrasal verb that means it.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Asked in |
|---|---|---|
| break into | enter by force | 2023 |
| cut down (on) | reduce | 2023 |
| take over | assume charge from someone | 2023 |
| come up | be raised for discussion | 2023 |
| iron out | settle a problem | 2023 |
| pass down | hand from one person to another | 2023 |
| put off | postpone | 2024 (twice) |
| come up with | think of, produce | 2024 |
| lay out | set out in detail | 2024 |
| shy away from | avoid | 2025 |
| clean out | empty of unwanted things | 2025 |
| take up | begin, deal with | 2025 |
| expand on | explain in more detail | 2025 |
| phase out | withdraw gradually | 2025 |
| arrive at | reach (an agreement, a conclusion) | 2025 (twice) |
| give up | surrender, betray (one's sources) | 2025 |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
SSC CGL · 2024 · Tier I, 13 Sep 2024, Shift 2 · Q88Easy
Example 4 · Grammar · Sentence Grammar
Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined word segment in the given sentence.
The wedding was put on until January.
Reading a phrasal verb word by word
Put off has nothing to do with putting; it means postpone. Learn the phrase's meaning as one unit.
A near phrase with another meaning
Call off is cancel, call on is urge or visit; bring up is raise a topic, bring out is publish. One small word changes the answer.
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.
Reference tables (1)
Phrasal verbs and fixed prepositions16 rows
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Asked in |
|---|---|---|
| break into | enter by force | 2023 |
| cut down (on) | reduce | 2023 |
| take over | assume charge from someone | 2023 |
| come up | be raised for discussion | 2023 |
| iron out | settle a problem | 2023 |
| pass down | hand from one person to another | 2023 |
| put off | postpone | 2024 (twice) |
| come up with | think of, produce | 2024 |
| lay out | set out in detail | 2024 |
| shy away from | avoid | 2025 |
| clean out | empty of unwanted things | 2025 |
| take up | begin, deal with | 2025 |
| expand on | explain in more detail | 2025 |
| phase out | withdraw gradually | 2025 |
| arrive at | reach (an agreement, a conclusion) | 2025 (twice) |
| give up | surrender, betray (one's sources) | 2025 |
Watch out for (8)
- Will in the time clause→ Tense and conditionals
- The simple past for the earlier action→ Tense and conditionals
- That after a comma→ Connectors and relative clauses
- No inversion after not until→ Connectors and relative clauses
- An article chosen by the letter→ Articles, agreement and parts of speech
- An interjection for the wrong feeling→ Articles, agreement and parts of speech
- Reading a phrasal verb word by word→ Phrasal verbs and fixed prepositions
- A near phrase with another meaning→ Phrasal verbs and fixed prepositions
Test yourself on Grammar
20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.