Fill in the Blanks Practice Quiz: WBPSC Clerkship 2024 English
A little practice. A step forward.
12 fill-in-the-blank questions for WBPSC Clerkship 2024 Part-I English: articles, prepositions, tenses, subject-verb agreement and conjunctions, each with its explanation. 📖 Read the detailed topic
Fill in the blank: He has been living in Kolkata ____ 2015.
2015 is a point of time and the verb is present perfect continuous (has been living), so since is used. For goes before a length of time (for ten years); from usually needs to.
- since + point of time (since 2015, since Monday)
- for + length of time (for ten years)
- since/for usually go with the present perfect
- from 2015 sounds natural, but with the present perfect the rule is since
- since = from when, for = how long
Fill in the blank: Each of the students ____ given a book.
The real subject is Each, which is singular; of the students only describes it. So the verb is singular: was. Were, have been and are are plural forms, and picking one because of students is the trap.
- Each / Every / Either / Neither + of + plural noun: singular verb
- The noun after of is not the subject
- Choosing were because students is plural
- Cover the of-phrase: Each ___ given
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Each / Every one of + plural | singular | Each of the boys was present. |
| The number of + plural | singular | The number of cars is rising. |
| A number of + plural | plural | A number of cars are outside. |
| Neither A nor B | agrees with B | Neither he nor his friends were there. |
Fill in the blank: He is ____ honest man and has written ____ useful book.
A/an depends on the first sound. The h in honest is silent, so it begins with a vowel sound: an honest. Useful begins with a 'yoo' sound, a consonant sound: a useful. So the answer is an, a.
- Vowel sound first: an hour, an honest man, an MLA
- Consonant sound first: a university, a useful book, a European
- Going by the letters: an useful and a honest are both wrong
- Say it aloud; don't go by the spelling
Fill in the blank: No sooner had the train left ____ it started raining.
No sooner always pairs with than: No sooner had ... than. When goes with Hardly or Scarcely (Hardly had ... when). Then and as do not fit this pattern.
- No sooner had ... than
- Hardly / Scarcely had ... when
- Mixing the pairs: No sooner with when, Hardly with than
- Sooner is a comparative, so than
| First part | Its pair |
|---|---|
| No sooner had | than |
| Hardly / Scarcely had | when |
| Not only | but also |
| Either / Neither | or / nor |
| lest | should + verb |
Fill in the blank: Neither the teacher nor the students ____ present.
With neither...nor the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Here the students (plural) come after nor, so were. Was, is and has been are singular and would agree with teacher, which is not the nearer subject.
- Neither...nor / Either...or: the verb follows the nearer subject
- Neither the students nor the teacher was present: singular here
- The nearer one decides the verb
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Each / Every one of + plural | singular | Each of the boys was present. |
| The number of + plural | singular | The number of cars is rising. |
| A number of + plural | plural | A number of cars are outside. |
| Neither A nor B | agrees with B | Neither he nor his friends were there. |
Fill in the blank: Walk carefully lest you ____ fall.
Lest means 'so that ... not', and the usual rule is should + base verb after it: lest you should fall. Lest is already negative, so may not would make a double negative and reverse the sense. Will and would do not fit this pattern.
- lest = for fear that
- lest + subject + should + verb
- Putting not after lest
- Lest goes with should
| First part | Its pair |
|---|---|
| No sooner had | than |
| Hardly / Scarcely had | when |
| Not only | but also |
| Either / Neither | or / nor |
| lest | should + verb |
Fill in the blank: Ramesh is senior ____ me by two years.
Senior, junior, superior, inferior and prior come from Latin and take to, not than. So senior to me. Than goes with ordinary comparatives (older than me).
- senior / junior / superior / inferior / prior + to
- older / bigger + than
- Writing senior than like older than
- Words ending in -or take to
| Word | Preposition |
|---|---|
| senior / junior / superior / inferior | to |
| prefer | to |
| accused | of |
| divide (two) | between |
| divide (more than two) | among |
| look forward | to + -ing |
Fill in the blank: If it rains tomorrow, we ____ stay at home.
This is the first conditional: simple present in the if-clause (rains), will + verb in the main clause. Would needs a past tense in the if-clause (If it rained, we would stay), would have a past perfect. Had makes no sense here.
- If + present, will + verb
- If + past, would + verb
- If + past perfect, would have + past participle
- Putting will in the if-clause (If it will rain): wrong
- Present after if, will in the other half
Fill in the blank: The number of unemployed youths ____ increasing.
The number of means 'the figure', a single subject, so the verb is singular: is. A number of means 'many' and takes a plural verb (A number of youths are unemployed). Picking are because of youths is the trap.
- The number of + plural noun: singular
- A number of + plural noun: plural
- Confusing the number of with a number of
- The number = one figure; A number = many
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Each / Every one of + plural | singular | Each of the boys was present. |
| The number of + plural | singular | The number of cars is rising. |
| A number of + plural | plural | A number of cars are outside. |
| Neither A nor B | agrees with B | Neither he nor his friends were there. |
Fill in the blank: Not only the students but also the teacher ____ come.
With not only...but also the verb agrees with the subject after but also, the nearer one. The teacher is singular, so has (has come). Have is plural, and are or were cannot be followed by come.
- Not only A but also B: the verb follows B
- The same rule as either...or and neither...nor
- Choosing have because of students
- What comes after but also decides the verb
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Each / Every one of + plural | singular | Each of the boys was present. |
| The number of + plural | singular | The number of cars is rising. |
| A number of + plural | plural | A number of cars are outside. |
| Neither A nor B | agrees with B | Neither he nor his friends were there. |
Fill in the blank: It is high time we ____ home.
After It is time / It is high time + subject, the verb is in the past tense though the action is now: It is high time we went home. It means the action is already overdue. Go, have gone and are going are wrong in this pattern.
- It is (high) time + subject + past tense
- It is time + to + verb: It is time to go
- Using the present (go) because the action is now
- High time = already late, so past
Fill in the blank: He was accused ____ theft.
Accuse takes the fixed preposition of: accused of theft. Charged takes with (charged with theft), so with is the trap. For and on do not go with accused.
- accused of
- charged with
- Writing accused with like charged with
- accuse → of, charge → with
| Word | Preposition |
|---|---|
| senior / junior / superior / inferior | to |
| prefer | to |
| accused | of |
| divide (two) | between |
| divide (more than two) | among |
| look forward | to + -ing |
📊 Topic Analysis
12 fill-in-the-blank questions for WBPSC Clerkship 2024 Part-I English: articles, prepositions, tenses, subject-verb agreement and conjunctions, each with its explanation.
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