General Hindi and English Language
General Hindi and English Language tests comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and usage. Hindi questions cover संधि, समास, तत्सम-तद्भव, मुहावरे, वाक्य शुद्धि and अनेकार्थी शब्द; English covers articles, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, tenses, synonyms, antonyms and error spotting.
Core rules
- Hindi संधि: स्वर संधि joins two vowels, व्यंजन संधि joins consonant sounds, विसर्ग संधि involves visarga. Example: सूर्य + उदय = सूर्योदय, a गुण संधि because अ + उ = ओ.
- Hindi समास: तत्पुरुष has the second element as principal; द्वंद्व joins two equally important words; बहुव्रीहि refers to another meaning; द्विगु begins with a number.
- English subject-verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. One of the boys is, not are. Each, every and either take a singular verb.
- Articles: a or an depends on sound, not spelling: an hour, a university. Use the for something specific or unique.
- Prepositions: agree with, married to, prefer to, consist of, died of a disease.
Worked example
Choose is or are: One of the officers ___ on duty. The head subject is One, not officers, so the correct form is is. Reasoning: the phrase of the officers is a prepositional phrase and does not change the subject number.
Traps
Avoid double comparatives such as more better. In Hindi, do not confuse तत्सम, which is Sanskrit-derived, with तद्भव, which is modified. An hour uses an because of the vowel sound; a European uses a because of the y sound.