English Language
What this section tests
English Language in the Federal Bank PO exam tests reading comprehension, cloze tests, error detection, sentence rearrangement (para jumbles), sentence improvement, and fillers. The RC passages are often economy- or banking-themed, so track the author’s stance, not just isolated facts.
Core rules
- In error detection, check subject–verb agreement, tense consistency, prepositions, and parallel structure.
- A collective noun such as “committee” takes a singular verb when it acts as one unit.
- In para jumbles, find the opening sentence (often a general statement) and then look for pronoun and connector links.
- In cloze, use the sentence’s logic and collocations; “comprise” takes no “of”.
- In RC, distinguish stated detail from inference; an answer must be supported by the passage.
Worked example
“The committee have decided to postpone the meeting because of the ongoing strike.” Error: “committee have” should be “committee has”, because the committee is acting as a single body. If the sentence described members acting individually, “have” could be correct.
Traps that cost marks
Being fooled by long subjects (“one of the officers who …”); double negatives; dangling modifiers; and choosing an RC option that is true in general but not stated in the passage. In para jumbles, do not start with a sentence that begins with “This” or “He” unless the referent is already clear.