Next CSE-PPT: 14 March 2027 · Professional & Subprofessional
Civil Service Exam verbal ability reviewer on spotting grammar errors and choosing correctly structured sentences: subject–verb agreement, tenses, pronouns, prepositions and paragraph order.
Error recognition and sentence structure make up a large part of the Verbal Ability section of the Civil Service Exam. This set trains you to find the part of a sentence that contains an error and to choose the sentence that is grammatically correct, covering subject–verb agreement, tenses, pronouns, prepositions, comparisons, and the logical order of sentences in a paragraph.
When looking for an error, check the subject and verb first, then the tense, then pronouns and prepositions. Each explanation names the rule involved, so you can apply it to new sentences in the exam.
Correct answer: A. B
The subject is "each", which is singular, so the verb must be singular: "Each of the applicants has submitted". The plural noun "applicants" inside the phrase does not change the subject.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. C
With "neither … nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject. "Assistants" is plural, so the sentence should read "nor his assistants were present".
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. C
"Since" is used with a point in time (since 2020), while "for" is used with a period of time. The correct phrase is "for five years".
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. C
Phrases such as "together with", "as well as" and "along with" do not change the number of the subject. The subject is "the director", so the verb should be "is attending".
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. A
A preposition such as "between" takes the object form of the pronoun, so the correct phrase is "between you and me".
Correct answer: B. A
When comparing three or more, use the superlative: "the most intelligent of the three candidates". The comparative "more" is used for two.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. A
An imaginary or unreal condition takes the subjunctive "were" for all subjects: "If I were the mayor". The rest of the sentence, "I would build", is correct.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. A
"Information" is an uncountable noun and has no plural form, so it takes a singular verb: "The information you requested is attached to this letter."
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. C
"Yesterday" places the action in the past, so the verb must be in the past tense: "the committee discussed the proposed budget".
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. D
"At your earliest convenience" already means as soon as possible, so adding "the soonest" is redundant. In formal letters, the phrase should end after "convenience".
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. The number of applicants has increased this year.
"The number of" takes a singular verb because "number" is the subject: "The number of applicants has increased." By contrast, "a number of" means "many" and takes a plural verb.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Every employee must submit his or her timesheet by Friday.
"Every" is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb: "Every employee must submit his or her timesheet." The other options mix singular and plural forms or use a wrong question tag.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. He doesn't know the answer.
With a third-person singular subject, the auxiliary is "does", and the main verb stays in its base form: "He doesn't know the answer."
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. The office opens at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m.
No comma or semicolon is needed between two verbs that share one subject ("opens … and closes"). A comma before "and" is used when it joins two complete clauses with their own subjects.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. affect
"Affect" is usually a verb meaning to influence; "effect" is usually a noun meaning a result. After "will", a base-form verb is needed, so "affect" is correct.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. by
"By" means not later than and is used for deadlines. "Until" describes an action that continues up to a point, as in "The office is open until five."
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. She is taller than her sister.
Short adjectives form the comparative with -er: taller. Using "more" together with -er is a double comparative and is incorrect.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. 2-4-1-3
The paragraph begins with the ordinance (2), then gives when it took effect (4), its result on residents (1, introduced by "as a result"), and finally an additional effect introduced by "also" (3).
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. 2-3-4-1
Sequence words show the order: "First" (2), "Then" (3), "Next" (4) and "Finally" (1). Spotting such transition words is the quickest way to solve paragraph organization items.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. B
"Children" is the plural of "child", so it takes the plural past continuous form "were playing". The rest of the sentence is correct.
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