English Language
What the section tests
English Language in Nainital Bank PO is a usage paper, not a literature paper. Expect reading comprehension, often with a banking or economy passage, plus cloze test, error detection, sentence improvement, para jumbles, fillers, and synonym or antonym questions.
Core rules
- In reading comprehension, separate main idea from detail. The correct main-idea option covers the whole passage; an option that is true but narrow is a distractor. For 'except' questions, eliminate the three options that are stated.
- In para jumbles, find the opening sentence: it usually introduces a noun without pronouns. Then chain using pronouns such as it and they, connectors such as however and therefore, and chronology.
- In error detection, check subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, preposition collocation, article use, and parallelism. 'One of the officers is' takes a singular verb after 'one of'.
- In fillers, test the collocation, not just meaning: 'comply with rules', 'consist of parts', 'regard as'.
Worked example
Sentence: 'The branch has sanctioned loans since 2019 and it is consistently meeting its targets.' Reasoning: 'since 2019' requires present perfect for the ongoing action, so 'has sanctioned' is correct. 'is consistently meeting' describes a current pattern and is acceptable, but 'has been consistently meeting' is tighter because the period is ongoing. If the options contrast 'is meeting' with 'has been meeting', choose the present perfect continuous.
Traps
Choosing a verbose option because it sounds formal; missing a double negative; ignoring the tense required by 'since' or 'for'; and in para jumbles, placing a sentence with 'this' before the noun it refers to.