Clerkship 2024 English Practice Quiz: 15 Questions on Grammar and Vocabulary
A little practice. A step forward.
15 questions on the WBPSC Clerkship Part-I English syllabus: articles, agreement, tenses, prepositions, voice, narration, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and correct usage, each with an explanation. 📖 Read the detailed topic
She is ___ honest girl.
The 'h' in 'honest' is silent, so the word begins with a vowel sound and takes 'an'. 'The' would be used only for a particular, already known girl.
- Articles follow sound, not spelling
- an hour, an honest, an heir
- university শব্দের u-র উচ্চারণ 'ইউ', তাই a university, an university নয়
- Silent h = an
Neither of the boys ___ present.
A singular verb follows 'neither of', so 'is' is right. 'are', 'were' and 'have been' go with plural subjects. Although 'boys' is plural, the real subject is 'neither'.
- each, every, either, neither, one of take a singular verb
- 'The news' and 'mathematics' are singular
- পাশের বহুবচন নাম (boys) দেখে are বসিয়ে ফেলা, এটাই সবচেয়ে সাধারণ ভুল
- Neither means 'not this one, not that one': think of one at a time
He is good ___ mathematics.
'Good at' is a fixed pair meaning skilled in a subject. 'in', 'on' and 'for' do not fit here. In the same way we say weak at and clever at.
- good/weak/clever at
- senior/junior to
- afraid/proud of
- Skill = at
I ___ him since 2015.
'Since' marks the starting point of a situation that is still true, so the Present Perfect 'have known' is needed. 'know' and 'knew' do not go with 'since', and 'know' is not normally used in the continuous form.
- since = a point in time, for = a length of time
- Both take the Present Perfect
- 'ago' takes the Simple Past
- 'ago'-র সঙ্গে Simple Past, কিন্তু 'since/for'-এর সঙ্গে Present Perfect
- See since/for, think have/has
Choose the word closest in meaning to 'abundant'.
'Abundant' means present in large quantity, and its closest word is 'plentiful'. 'Scarce' and 'rare' are its opposites, while 'tiny' only means very small.
- abundant = plentiful = ample
- antonym: scarce
- Think of 'abundance' as overflowing
Choose the word opposite in meaning to 'expand'.
'Expand' means to become larger. Its opposite is 'contract', to become smaller. 'Enlarge', 'extend' and 'grow' are close in meaning to 'expand', not opposite.
- expand ↔ contract
- increase ↔ decrease
- ex- = outward, con- = together
Choose the correctly spelt word.
The correct spelling is 'Accommodation' with two c's and two m's. The other three drop a c or an m, or spell the ending wrongly.
- accommodation: 2 c, 2 m
- necessary: 1 c, 2 s
- separate: -par-
- Two c's, two m's
Choose the passive form of 'They are building a bridge.'
The sentence is in the Present Continuous, so the passive uses 'is/are being + past participle': 'is being built'. 'Is built' is Simple Present, 'was being built' is Past Continuous and 'has been built' is Present Perfect.
- Present Continuous passive: is/are being + V3
- Present Perfect passive: has/have been + V3
- Continuous means 'being'
| Tense | Passive |
|---|---|
| Simple Present | is/are + V3 |
| Present Continuous | is/are being + V3 |
| Present Perfect | has/have been + V3 |
| Simple Past | was/were + V3 |
| Simple Future | will be + V3 |
Change into indirect speech: He said, "I am tired."
The reporting verb 'said' is in the past, so 'am' shifts back to 'was' and 'I' becomes 'he'. The other options do not change the tense or the pronoun correctly.
- Past reporting verb → verb moves one step back
- am/is → was, will → would
- I → he/she as the speaker needs
- Past 'said', verb steps back
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| am/is/are | was/were |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day |
What does the idiom 'to beat about the bush' mean?
The idiom means not coming to the point and speaking in a roundabout way. Taking it literally and thinking of winning, hunting or anger is a mistake, because an idiom's meaning does not come from its words.
- beat about the bush = speak indirectly
- An idiom cannot be read literally
- Circling the bush, never going in
One who can speak many languages is called a ___.
'Poly' means many and 'glot' means tongue, so a polyglot is a person who knows many languages. A pedant is overly fussy about rules, a philanthropist loves humanity and a pessimist expects the worst.
- polyglot = a person of many languages
- philanthropist = a lover of humanity
- pessimist ↔ optimist
- poly = many (as in polygon)
Which sentence is correct?
'Furniture' is uncountable, so it takes the singular 'is'. 'News' and 'mathematics' look plural but are singular, so 'are' is wrong. 'Information' has no plural, so 'informations' is wrong.
- Uncountable: information, advice, furniture, luggage
- news, mathematics are singular
- A final -s does not always mean plural
He is senior ___ me.
After senior, junior, superior and inferior we use 'to', not 'than'. So 'senior to me' is correct. 'Than' is used in ordinary comparisons (taller than), but these four words are exceptions.
- senior/junior/superior/inferior + to
- prefer + to (prefer tea to coffee)
- taller than বললে senior than-ও চলবে ভেবে ভুল করা
- Senior, junior: both take 'to'
What does the phrasal verb 'give up' mean?
'Give up' means to stop trying or to stop doing something, that is, to quit. 'Continue' is its opposite. 'Receive' and 'donate' are not meanings of this phrasal verb.
- give up = quit
- give in = surrender
- give away = distribute free
- Give up: hands up, I am done
Complete the question tag: She can swim, ___?
The main sentence is positive with the helping verb 'can', so the tag must be negative with the same helping verb: 'can't she'. 'Isn't', 'doesn't' and 'won't' belong to other helping verbs.
- Positive sentence, negative tag
- Negative sentence, positive tag
- The helping verb stays the same
- Opposite sign, same helper
📊 Topic Analysis
15 questions on the WBPSC Clerkship Part-I English syllabus: articles, agreement, tenses, prepositions, voice, narration, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and correct usage, each with an explanation.
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