General Hindi and English
What this domain tests
The language section tests Hindi grammar and vocabulary and English grammar and usage through error spotting, fill in the blanks, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and sentence improvement.
Hindi grammar essentials
Know the three sandhi types: swar, vyanjan and visarga. Know the six samas: tatpurush, karmadharay, dvigu, dvandva, bahuvrihi and avyayibhav. Revise upsarg and pratyay, the parts of speech, vaachya, kaal, muhavare and lokoktiyan, paryayvachi, vilom and anekarthi words. In poetics, identify anupras, upma, roopak and utpreksha, and the nine ras.
English grammar essentials
Tenses and subject-verb agreement carry the most marks, followed by articles, prepositions, active and passive voice, direct and indirect speech, and conditionals. Practise error spotting on one error per sentence and vocabulary items such as synonyms, antonyms and idioms.
Worked example, Hindi
Combine सूर्य and उदय. The final अ of सूर्य meets the initial उ of उदय; अ plus उ gives ओ, so the form is सूर्योदय. This is guna sandhi, and recognising the vowel pair is what decides the answer.
Worked example, English
Neither of the two answers was correct. Neither is singular, so the verb is was, and the noun after of is plural. The subject is neither, not answers.
Traps that cost marks
- In Hindi, confusing dvandva with karmadharay, or giving a literal meaning for an idiom.
- In English, writing one of the boys are instead of is, and using since for a duration instead of a point of time.
- Misreading sandhi direction and applying the wrong vowel rule.
- Choosing a synonym by sound rather than by exact meaning.