🔤 General English (सामान्य अंग्रेज़ी)

📌 0. Exam Pattern & 2025 Paper Analysis (परीक्षा पैटर्न) (3 min read)

• Prelims: 100 questions, 2 ghante. English = 10 questions (har shift mein fix).
• Official syllabus (SI/Subedar 2026 rulebook) mein Prelims ke liye bas "अंग्रेजी भाषायी बोध" (English language comprehension) likha hai — matlab basic grammar + vocabulary + sentence sense.
• Official 2025 paper (16–21 Jan 2026, 12 shifts) ke 120 English sawal hamne padhe. Neeche table batati hai kaunsa topic kitni baar aaya.

📌 1. Parts of Speech & Verbals (शब्द-भेद) (7 min read)

English mein har word ek "kaam" karta hai — wahi uska part of speech hai. Golden rule: part of speech word se nahi, sentence mein uske kaam se decide hota hai. "Fast" noun bhi ho sakta hai (a fast), adjective bhi (a fast car), adverb bhi (runs fast).

1.1 Adjective vs Adverb — confusing words

• Sab adverbs "-ly" pe khatam nahi hote: fast, hard, late, early, well, soon, very, often, only, then — ye bhi adverbs hain.
• Kuch adverbs aur adjectives ka form same hota hai: a fast train (adj) / he drives fast (adv); a hard task (adj) / work hard (adv); an early bus (adj) / came early (adv).
• -ly wale adjectives bhi hote hain: friendly, lovely, lonely, costly, ugly, silly, likely (a friendly man — adjective).
• Hard vs Hardly: He works hard (mehnat se) ≠ He hardly works (mushkil se hi kaam karta hai). Late vs Lately: came late (der se) ≠ lately (recently).
• "The then": the then Prime Minister = us samay ke PM → yahan then = adjective (noun "Prime Minister" ko describe kar raha hai).
• "Mere": her mere presence → mere = adjective (presence noun ko describe).
• "Only": Only if you try... → only = adverb (clause ko modify). Only jahan rakho, meaning badal jata hai: Only I met him / I only met him / I met only him.
• Linking verbs (be, seem, look, feel, taste, smell, sound, become) ke baad adjective aata hai: The food tastes good (well nahi); She looks beautiful.

1.2 Verbals — Gerund, Infinitive, Participle

• Gerund ke baad aane wale verbs: enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, deny, suggest, admit, practise, risk, can't help, look forward to, be used to, object to → I look forward to meeting you (to meet nahi).
• Infinitive ke baad aane wale verbs: want, decide, hope, agree, refuse, plan, promise, expect, afford.
• Reduced relative clause: "who/which + verb" hata kar participle lagao — Students who complete the assignment... → Students completing the assignment will get extra credit. Passive: The book which was written by him → The book written by him.
• Gerund se pehle possessive: I don't mind his coming late (formal English).

📌 2. Articles — a / an / the (उपपद) (6 min read)

A/An = indefinite (koi bhi ek, singular countable). The = definite (wahi khaas wala). Sabse important: a/an ka faisla spelling se nahi, pehli awaaz (sound) se hota hai.

2.1 "The" kab lagta hai

• Pehle bola ja chuka / dono jaante hain: I saw a dog. The dog was black.
• Duniya mein ek hi: the sun, the moon, the earth, the sky.
• Superlative & ordinals: the best, the tallest, the first, the last.
• Nadiyan, samudra, mahasagar, parvat-shrinkhla, dweep-samooh: the Ganga, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Himalayas, the Andamans.
• Holy books, newspapers, musical instruments: the Gita, the Hindu, plays the flute.
• "The + adjective" = poora varg: the poor, the rich, the blind (plural verb).
• Plural/union naam wale desh: the USA, the UK, the Netherlands.
• "The + comparative, the + comparative": The more you practise, the better you become.

2.2 No article (zero article) kab

• Uncountable nouns general sense mein: Milk is essential for kids. / gather information / give advice.
• By + transport: by train, by bus, by car, by air.
• Languages, subjects, sports, meals (general): speaks English, studies history, plays cricket, have breakfast.
• Person, city, most countries ke naam: Bhopal, India, Mount Everest (single peak — no article).
• School, college, hospital, church, prison, bed — apne asli kaam ke liye: go to school (padhne), went to hospital (ilaaj). Kisi aur kaam se: went to the school to meet the teacher.
• "Others" general sense mein: sets her apart from others.

📌 3. Tenses & Conditionals (काल) (10 min read)

Tense = verb ka woh form jo time (present/past/future) aur action ki state (simple / continuous / perfect / perfect continuous) dono batata hai. 3 × 4 = 12 tenses. Exam mein time-marker words (since, for, by the time, before, this time next year) dekh kar tense pakdo.

3.1 Since vs For

• Since + point of time (kab se): since Monday, since 2015, since morning, since childhood.
• For + period of time (kitne samay se): for two hours, for five years, for a long time.
• Dono aam taur par perfect / perfect continuous ke saath: I have lived here since 2015 / for ten years.

3.2 Must-know tense rules (error spotting ke favourite)

• Present perfect + definite past time ✗: I have seen him yesterday → I saw him yesterday. "ago" ke saath hamesha past simple.
• Time/condition clause mein future nahi: when, before, after, until, as soon as, if, unless, by the time ke baad present tense: I will call you when he comes (will come ✗).
• By the time + present → main clause future perfect: By the time you arrive, we will have finished. By the time + past → past perfect: By the time the police arrived, the thief had escaped.
• No sooner had ... than / Hardly (Scarcely) had ... when: No sooner had he left than it started raining. (then ✗)
• As if / As though (unreal) → past tense; "be" ho to were: He talks as though he knew everything. / She behaves as if she were the boss.
• It is (high) time + past: It is high time we left.   I wish + past: I wish I were rich.
• Stative verbs ka continuous nahi: know, believe, understand, like, love, hate, want, own, belong, contain, seem → I know him (am knowing ✗).
• "How many times has India won the World Cup till now?" — "till now" = present perfect.

3.3 Conditional Sentences (If-clauses)

Inversion (If hata kar): If he had known → Had he known the truth, he would have acted differently. / If I were → Were I you... / If you should need → Should you need help, call me.

📌 4. Subject-Verb Agreement (कर्ता-क्रिया सामंजस्य) (8 min read)

Basic rule: singular subject → singular verb (is, was, has, V1+s), plural subject → plural verb (are, were, have, V1). Tricky part hai asli subject pehchanna.

📌 5. Active-Passive Voice (वाच्य) (8 min read)

Active: karta (doer) pehle — The police caught the thief. Passive: jis par kaam hua (object) pehle — The thief was caught by the police.

3-step method: (1) Object ko subject banao. (2) Tense ke hisaab se be-form + V3 lagao (neeche table). (3) Purana subject "by + object form" mein (zaroorat ho to; "by them/someone/people" aksar hata dete hain).

Perfect continuous tenses aur future continuous ka passive exam mein normally nahi poocha jaata.

5.1 Special cases

• Pronoun change (by ke baad): I→me, we→us, you→you, he→him, she→her, they→them, who→whom.
• Question (Wh-): Who wrote this book? → By whom was this book written?   Did he write it? → Was it written by him?   What did he say? → What was said by him?
• Imperative: Open the door. → Let the door be opened.   Request: Please help me. → You are requested to help me.   Order: Leave the room. → You are ordered to leave the room.
• Passive → Active: "by" ke baad wala doer ko subject banao, tense same rakho. We were told to put it... (doer nahi diya) → They told us to put it...
• Intransitive verbs (object nahi) ka passive nahi banta: die, arrive, sleep, go, come, happen, belong, sit, laugh (bina object). She belongs to the club / He died suddenly / They arrived early — passive impossible. They repaired the bike (object: bike) → passive ban sakta hai.
• Do objects wale verbs (give, tell, show, teach): He gave me a book. → I was given a book (by him) ya A book was given to me.
• Kaam ka doer pata na ho / zaroori na ho to passive natural hai: Ten people were injured in the accident.

📌 6. Direct-Indirect Speech / Narration (कथन) (9 min read)

Direct: kisi ke exact shabd inverted commas mein — He said, "I am busy." Indirect (Reported): hum apne shabdon mein batate hain — He said that he was busy.

6.1 Rule 1 — Tense change (jab reporting verb PAST mein ho: said, told, asked)

Tense change NAHI hota jab: (a) reporting verb present/future ho (He says that he is busy); (b) universal truth (The teacher said that the earth revolves round the sun); (c) aisi fact/habit jo abhi bhi sach ho (She said that her parents live in Kerala — dono sahi maane jaate hain, backshift optional).

6.2 Rule 2 — Pronoun change (SON formula)

• S — 1st person (I, we, my) → reporting verb ke Subject ke hisaab se. She said, "I..." → she.
• O — 2nd person (you, your) → reporting verb ke Object ke hisaab se. He said to me, "You..." → I/me. Object na ho to reporter (me).
• N — 3rd person (he, she, they) → No change.

6.3 Rule 3 — Time & place words

6.4 Sentence types

6.5 Indirect → Direct (ulta)

Tense ek step aage (would → will, was → is), pronoun wapas (he → I, me → you), inverted commas lagao: He said that he would help me. → He said, "I will help you."

📌 7. Prepositions (संबंधसूचक) (7 min read)

7.1 In / On / At — Time & Place

7.2 Confusing pairs

• Between (do ke beech) / Among (do se zyada): divide between two brothers / among five brothers.
• Beside (bagal mein) / Besides (iske alawa): sat beside me / Besides English, he knows Hindi.
• In (sthiti) / Into (andar jaane ki motion): He is in the room / He jumped into the river.
• By (doer) / With (instrument): The snake was killed by him with a stick.
• Since (point of time) / For (period) — tenses section dekho.
• Die of (disease: died of cancer) / die from (cause/injury: died from wounds).
• Angry with (person) / angry at (thing/behaviour). Agree with (person) / agree to (proposal).

7.3 Fixed prepositions (appropriate preposition)

7.4 Bina preposition wale verbs (extra preposition = error)

discuss about, enter into the room, reach at the station, return back, resemble to, comprise of, emphasise on, order for a pizza — sahi: discuss the matter, enter the room, reach the station, return, resemble his father, comprise three parts, emphasise the point, order a pizza.

📌 8. Conjunctions & Inversion (समुच्चयबोधक) (6 min read)

8.1 Rules

• Although/Though ke saath "but" nahi: Although he was ill, but he came ✗ → Although he was ill, he came (ya "…, yet he came").
• Unless = if not — iske saath "not" dobara nahi: Unless you don't work hard ✗ → Unless you work hard, you will fail.
• Lest ke baad should: Walk carefully lest you should fall.
• Both…and (both…as well as ✗); not only…but also (but hata dena ✗); so…that, such…that.
• Parallelism: correlative ke dono taraf same form: He is not only intelligent but also hardworking (adj + adj).
• Coordinating conjunction se do complete clauses jodte waqt comma conjunction se pehle: She wanted to go for a walk, but it was raining, and so she stayed at home.

8.2 Inversion after negative adverbials

Sentence agar Rarely, Seldom, Never, Hardly, Scarcely, No sooner, Not only, Little, Nowhere, Under no circumstances, Only then se shuru ho to helping verb + subject (question jaisa order):

• Rarely have people complained about the service.
• Never have I seen such a sight. / Seldom does he come late. / Not only did he abuse them, but he also beat them.

📌 9. Modals (सहायक क्रियाएँ — can, may, must...) (8 min read)

Modal ke baad hamesha V1 (base verb) — He can swim (swims / to swim ✗). Modal + have + V3 = past ke baare mein andaza / afsos.

9.1 Modal + have + V3 (past)

📌 10. Question Tags (4 min read)

Statement ke end mein chhota sawal — It was the best concert, wasn't it? Rule: positive statement → negative tag; negative statement → positive tag. Tag mein wahi helping verb + pronoun subject.

📌 11. Degree of Comparison (तुलना) (5 min read)

11.1 Rules

• Double comparison ✗: more better, most tallest.
• Latin comparatives + "to" (than nahi): superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, prefer, preferable → He is senior to me.
• Elder ke baad "than" nahi: He is elder than me ✗ → older than me ✓ / my elder brother ✓.
• Absolute adjectives ki comparison nahi: unique, perfect, complete, ideal, round, square, supreme, chief, entire (more unique ✗).
• Than any other + singular noun: He is taller than any other boy in the class.
• One of the + superlative + plural noun: one of the best players.
• Same cheez se comparison (that of / those of): The climate of Mumbai is better than that of Delhi.
• Positive degree: as…as (positive/negative), so…as (negative only): He is not so tall as his brother.

📌 12. Punctuation (विराम चिह्न) (7 min read)

2025 mein 12 mein se 7 shifts mein "Choose the option with the INCORRECTLY punctuated sentence" aaya. Neeche ke 8 rules se almost sab solve ho jaate hain.

• Its (uska — possessive, apostrophe nahi) vs It's (= it is / it has).
• Question tag se pehle comma: It was the best concert of the year, wasn't it?
• Direct speech: "What a terrible idea this is!" he said. / "It's too late," the manager said. (comma/!/? quotation ke andar)
• Numbers 21–99 likhte waqt hyphen: twenty-one, forty-five, ninety-nine.
• Oxford comma (list mein "and" se pehle comma) optional hai: "5, 6 and 7" aur "Paris, Rome, and Berlin" dono sahi.

📌 13. Homophones & Homonyms (समध्वनि / अनेकार्थी शब्द) (8 min read)

• Homophones: awaaz same, spelling aur meaning alag — brake / break, coarse / course.
• Homonyms: spelling aur awaaz same, meaning alag — bank (paisa wala / nadi ka kinara).

13.1 High-frequency homophone pairs

13.2 "Homophone" NAHI hain (awaaz alag) — trap pairs

accept / except, personal / personnel (stress alag: PER-sonal vs person-NEL), farther / further, affect / effect, lose / loose, quite / quiet, desert / dessert — ye "confusable words" hain, true homophones nahi.

13.3 Homonyms (ek word, kai meaning) — 2025 mein pooche gaye

📌 14. Prefix & Suffix — Word Formation (उपसर्ग / प्रत्यय) (7 min read)

Prefix word ke shuru mein judkar meaning badalta hai (happy → unhappy). Suffix word ke end mein judkar aksar part of speech badalta hai (child → childish: noun → adjective).

14.1 Negative prefixes (sahi prefix kaunsa?)

Trap: kai words mein "in-/dis-/pre-" prefix nahi hota ya "not" ka meaning nahi deta: incident, income, inhabit, discuss, disaster, premium, president.

14.2 Other prefixes

pre- (pehle: preview, prehistoric, prepaid) · post- (baad: post-war) · re- (dobara: rewrite) · sub- (neeche: subway) · inter- (beech: international) · trans- (paar: transport) · co- (saath: co-worker) · ex- (poorv: ex-president) · anti- (virodh: antibiotic) · bi-/tri-/multi- (2/3/kai) · mono-/poly- (ek/kai) · auto- (swayam) · tele- (door).

14.3 Suffixes — part of speech change

14.4 Same suffix, alag meanings

• -hood: stage of life → childhood, adulthood, boyhood; relationship/group → brotherhood, neighbourhood; state/quality → falsehood, likelihood.
• -ism: doctrine/belief system → capitalism, socialism, Buddhism, Marxism; activity → tourism; act → criticism; quality → heroism. (Organism mein -ism suffix-meaning nahi.)
• -ive: tendency/capacity → active, creative, protective. (Archive, survive, connive — yahan "-ive" suffix nahi, word ka hissa hai.)

📌 15. Collocations (शब्द-युग्म) (5 min read)

Collocation = woh words jo natural taur par saath aate hain. Grammar se nahi, usage se yaad hote hain: "heavy rain" ✓, "strong rain" ✗; "commit a crime" ✓, "do a crime" ✗.

📌 16. Synonyms & Antonyms (समानार्थी / विलोम) (10 min read)

2025 mein synonym/antonym ke words kaafi tough the (abstruse, parsimonious, iniquity, prevarication). Isliye neeche do lists hain: (A) PYQ words + unke options (sab yaad karo — ye words dobara aa sakte hain), (B) high-frequency basic words.

16.A PYQ words aur unke options (meaning ke saath)

16.B High-frequency basic words

📌 17. One-Word Substitution (वाक्यांश के लिए एक शब्द) (8 min read)

2025 mein 8 sawal — sab standard list se (ambidextrous, cartographer, etymologist, semantics, anthropologist, hypocrite, accomplice, contraband). Ye list yaad karo:

17.1 Persons (vyakti)

17.2 Crime, law & police (SI ke liye khaas)

17.3 Studies (-logy / -ics) aur baaki

17.4 Places & Government

Aviary (pakshi) · Apiary (madhumakkhi) · Arsenal / Armoury (hathiyar) · Granary (anaaj) · Orchard (phal ke ped) · Mint (sikke banna) · Hangar (hawai jahaz) · Kennel (kutta) · Stable (ghoda) · Mortuary / Morgue (shav rakhne ki jagah) · Cemetery (kabristan).
Autocracy (ek vyakti ka poorn shasan) · Bureaucracy (adhikariyon ka shasan) · Anarchy (koi shasan nahi, arajakta) · Oligarchy (kuch logon ka shasan) · Plutocracy (ameeron ka shasan) · Theocracy (dharm-guruon ka shasan).

📌 18. Idioms, Phrases & Phrasal Verbs (मुहावरे) (9 min read)

Idiom ka matlab uske shabdon se nahi nikalta — poora phrase ek alag arth deta hai. Tip: sentence ka context (positive/negative, control/confusion) dekh kar options hatao.

18.1 2025 mein pooche gaye idioms

18.2 High-frequency idioms

18.3 Phrasal verbs

📌 19. Spelling (वर्तनी) (5 min read)

19.1 Spelling rules

• i before e, except after c (jab awaaz "ee" ho): believe, achieve, field / receive, ceiling, deceive. Exceptions yaad rakho: seize, weird, either, neither, foreign, height, leisure.
• Final consonant doubling: ek syllable / aakhri syllable par stress + short vowel + ek consonant → double: stop → stopped, begin → beginning, occur → occurred, refer → referred. Stress pehle syllable par ho to double nahi: visit → visited, open → opened, offer → offered.
• Silent "e" drop vowel suffix se pehle: make → making, write → writing, hope → hoping. Consonant suffix se pehle rakho: hope → hopeful, care → careful. Exceptions: notice → noticeable, courage → courageous (soft c/g ke liye e rehta hai).
• Consonant + y → i: happy → happiness, carry → carried, study → studies. Vowel + y → y rehta hai: play → played, enjoy → enjoyed.
• -ful suffix mein ek hi "l": hopeful, beautiful, grateful (gratefull ✗).

19.2 Commonly misspelt words (sahi spelling)

📌 20. Error Spotting & Sentence Improvement (त्रुटि पहचान) (7 min read)

Sentence 3–4 parts mein bata hota hai; ek part mein galti hoti hai (ya "No error"). Tukke se nahi, checklist se dhoondo — neeche ka order follow karo:

20.1 Sentence Improvement method

• Underlined part ko ek-ek option se replace karke poora sentence padho.
• Pehle grammar galat options hatao (tense, SVA), phir meaning badalne wale, phir lambe/extra words wale.
• "No improvement" tabhi choose karo jab underlined part checklist ke har point par sahi ho.

📌 21. Fill in the Blanks & Cloze Test (5 min read)

2025 ke paper mein "fill in the blanks" format bahut aaya (tense, articles, modals, collocations, SVA) — woh sab upar ke sections mein cover hai. Cloze test = ek passage mein kai blanks; 2025 mein nahi aaya, par format samajh lo.

📌 22. Para Jumbles / Sentence Rearrangement (5 min read)

Kuch sentences (P, Q, R, S) ulte-seedhe diye hote hain; sahi logical order chunna hota hai. 2025 mein nahi aaya, lekin syllabus ke "comprehension" hisse mein aata hai.

📌 23. Reading Comprehension Strategy (5 min read)

2025 ke 12 shifts mein passage nahi aaya, lekin tayyari ke liye basic strategy:

• Pehle questions padho (sirf question, options nahi) — pata chalega passage mein kya dhoondhna hai.
• Passage padhte waqt har paragraph ka main point dimaag mein 3–4 shabdon mein banao.
• Question types: (1) Main idea / Title — poore passage ko cover kare, na bahut broad na bahut narrow. (2) Fact-based — passage mein seedha likha hai, line dhoondo. (3) Inference — likha nahi, par passage se zaroor nikalta hai. (4) Vocabulary in context — word ka woh meaning jo us sentence mein fit ho. (5) Tone — positive / critical / neutral / optimistic.
• Apna bahari gyaan mat lagao — sirf passage ke hisaab se answer.
• Extreme words (always, never, all, only) wale options aksar galat hote hain, jab tak passage mein waisa na likha ho.

📌 24. Last-Day Revision Sheet (एक नज़र में) (4 min read)