Maharashtra SSC Bengali L2/L3 (MSBSHSE) cheat sheet

Unseen passage answers must be lifted from the text itself; the SSC pattern awards marks for content points present in the passage, not for outside knowledge.

Direct-question stems in Bengali: কে (who), কী/কি (what), কোথায় (where), কখন (when), কেন (why), কীভাবে (how) - match the answer type to the stem.

'বিপরীতার্থক' asks for the opposite word, 'সমার্থক' for a synonym, 'বাক্য রচনা' for a new sentence using the given word - three different tasks, do not mix them.

Prose extracts in the syllabus are typically by Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and Syed Mujtaba Ali; identify author and work when asked.

Summary (সারাংশ/সারমর্ম) keeps only the central idea; a paraphrase keeps the full sequence of ideas - the marking differs.

Character questions require one trait plus one textual incident as evidence; a trait alone loses the supporting mark.

Title/heading questions (শিরোনাম) are judged on coverage of the whole passage, so a title naming only one incident is marked wrong.

Vocabulary in context: a word's meaning must fit the sentence, e.g. কর (hand / tax / to do) is disambiguated only by the surrounding words.

Poetry answers must name the কবি and the কাব্যগ্রন্থ; poems in the SSC Bengali course are drawn from Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Sukanta Bhattacharya and Shakti Chattopadhyay.

'মূলভাব' (central idea) is written in 3–5 connected sentences; 'ভাবার্থ' (explication) follows the stanza line by line - different formats, different marks.

Figures of speech: উপমা uses like/as (সাদৃশ্য), রূপক states identity without comparison, অনুপ্রাস repeats consonants, ধ্বন্যাত্মক imitates sound.

Personification (মনুষ্যরোপণ) is present when a non-human object performs a human action such as speaking, weeping or walking.

Tagore's 'Where the Mind is Without Fear' (from Gitanjali) and Nazrul's revolutionary poems are standard comparison pairs for theme questions.

Chhandas (মাত্রা/অক্ষরবৃত্ত/স্বরবৃত্ত) questions ask for the metrical system, not the number of lines; line-count questions ask for পঙক্তি.

Quotation questions require exact lines; a paraphrased quotation earns no mark in the quotation item.

Symbol questions: identify the object (e.g. a bird, a lamp, a plough) and state what abstract idea it stands for in that specific poem.

সন্ধি: স্বরসন্ধি joins two vowels (বিদ্যা + আলয় = বিদ্যালয়); ব্যঞ্জনসন্ধি joins a consonant with a vowel or consonant (উৎ + হার = উত্থার); বিসর্গসন্ধি involves ঃ.

সমাস types: দ্বন্দ্ব (both words retained in sense), কর্মধারয় (adjective + noun), তৎপুরুষ (later word dominant), বহুব্রীহি (sense points to a third entity), দ্বিগু (number/measure).

কারক ও বিভক্তি: কর্তৃ (subject, -টি/এ), কর্ম (object, -কে/টি), করণ (instrument, -দ্বারা/দিয়ে), সম্প্রদান (-কে/জন্য), অপাদান (-থেকে/হতে), অধিকরণ (-এ/তে).

Voice (বাচ্য): কর্তৃবাচ্য keeps the doer as subject; কর্মবাচ্য promotes the object and adds a passive marker such as -এর দ্বারা/কর্তৃক.

কাল (tense) markers: বর্তমান -ছে/-য়, সাধারণ ভবিষ্যৎ -বে, পুরাঘটিত অতীত -েছিল, ঘটমান বর্তমান -ছে with a time adverb.

লিঙ্গ: পুংলিঙ্গ, স্ত্রীলিঙ্গ, উভয়লিঙ্গ (e.g. সন্তান, শিশু) and ক্লীবলিঙ্গ (e.g. জল, বই) - gender is lexical, not derivable by rule.

বচন: singular/plural markers include -রা, -এরা, -গুলি, -গণ; some nouns resist pluralisation (জল, দুধ).

Synonyms/antonyms are tested as single words; idioms (বাগধারা) are tested by meaning, e.g. অগস্ত্য যাত্রা = final departure, চোখের বালি = a constant irritant.

Report/letter format carries marks: date, address, salutation, body paragraphs, closing - omitting the date or salutation loses format marks even with good content.

অনুচ্ছেদ (paragraph) structure: topic sentence, 3–4 supporting sentences, concluding sentence; 100–120 words is the usual SSC target.

Formal letter (আবেদনপত্র) uses সমীপেষু/জনাব and a formal register; personal letter (পত্র) uses প্রিয়/স্নেহের and an informal register.

প্রবন্ধ (essay) needs an introduction, 3–4 body paragraphs with examples, and a conclusion; the introduction must state the thesis in one sentence.

Dialogue writing (সংলাপ) must keep speaker turns balanced and use quotation marks or speaker labels consistently.

Story completion (গল্প সম্পূর্ণ করা) must use the given opening line verbatim and resolve the conflict in the final 2–3 sentences.

Translation (অনুবাদ) is marked for meaning and grammar, not word-for-word equivalence; idioms should be replaced by the target-language idiom.

Notice (বিজ্ঞপ্তি) answers the five Ws - what, who, when, where, whom to contact - in under 50 words.