English Grammar questions in the Bihar Police Constable exam fall into a very predictable pattern. You are not expected to write an essay or parse a complex subordinate clause. Instead, the paper tests whether you know:
Think of English grammar the way you think of traffic rules. You do not need to know the legal code by heart — you just need to know: red means stop, green means go, no overtaking on a double yellow line. The "rules" here are similarly finite and repeatable.
Here is a useful analogy: a word is like a person in a family. The word "apply" is the verb — it does the action. "Application" is what that action produces (a noun, a thing). "Applicable" describes something (adjective). "Applicant" is the person who does the action (another noun, but a different one). The exam loves to put all four family members in the options and ask you to pick the right relative. If you know the family tree of 30-40 common root words, you have covered most of what appears in this section.
The grammar section rewards pattern recognition over deep linguistic theory. A student who has seen 50 PYQs on word forms will consistently outperform someone who has memorized grammar textbooks but has never looked at an actual Bihar Police paper.
The exam regularly gives you a base noun and asks for the verb form, adjective form, or adverb form. The trap is always that the options contain plausible-looking words that are real English words — just the wrong part of speech.
Core word-form families to memorize:
| Root/Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | |---|---|---|---| | Application | Apply | Applicable | Applicably | | Affection | Affect | Affectionate | Affectionately | | Creation | Create | Creative | Creatively | | Decision | Decide | Decisive | Decisively | | Suggestion | Suggest | Suggestive | Suggestively | | Attraction | Attract | Attractive | Attractively | | Production | Produce | Productive | Productively | | Confusion | Confuse | Confusing/Confused | Confusingly |
The suffix test: Knowing common suffixes immediately tells you the part of speech.
-ify, -ize, -ate, -en → clarify, organize, activate, brighten-ful, -less, -ous, -ive, -ate, -ible, -able, -ent → hopeful, careless, famous, active, affectionate, possible, reliable, evident-ly added to adjective → quickly, affectionately-tion, -sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -er, -ant, -ent → application, decision, movement, kindness, ability, teacher, applicant, studentWhen you see the question "find the adjective of AFFECTION," immediately scan your options for words ending in -ful, -ous, -ive, or -ate. You land on "Affectionate" in seconds.
Prepositions are tiny words that carry big consequences. The most commonly tested rule in Bihar Police papers is: certain time expressions take no preposition at all.
No preposition before:
tomorrow, yesterday, todaylast week, next month, last yearthis morning, this eveningWrong: "We will leave on tomorrow." Correct: "We will leave tomorrow."
Standard preposition rules for time:
on → specific days and dates: on Monday, on 15 Augustin → months, years, seasons, parts of day: in January, in 2023, in the morningat → specific clock times and certain fixed phrases: at 6 pm, at night, at noonStandard preposition rules for place:
at → specific point/address: at the station, at Patna Junctionin → inside an enclosed space or large area: in the room, in Biharon → surface: on the table, on the roadThe exam loves possessive pronouns. Here is the table that covers 90% of what you need:
| Type | I/We | You | He/She | They | |---|---|---|---|---| | Possessive Adjective (needs noun after it) | my/our | your | his/her | their | | Possessive Pronoun (stands alone, no noun) | mine/ours | yours | his/hers | theirs |
The classic mistake: writing "your's" or "mine's." These do not exist. Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. yours, mine, his, hers, ours, theirs — no apostrophe, ever.
When the sentence says "the white horse is ___" with nothing after the blank, you need the possessive pronoun (stands alone). So: yours, mine — not your, my.
a before consonant sounds: a university (u sounds like "yu"), a bookan before vowel sounds: an hour (h is silent), an apple, an honest manthe before specific, already-known, or unique things: the sun, the Ganges, the Prime MinisterThe exam occasionally tests whether a sentence uses the right tense. The most common trap is mixing simple past with present perfect.
Never use present perfect with words like yesterday, last year, in 2019. Always use simple past with those markers.
When asked to identify a verb, adjective, or adverb form — do not read all four options in full. Instead, scan only the endings (last 3-5 letters) of each option. Verbs typically end in a base form with no decoration (-ify, -ize, -ate) or match a clean short form. Adjectives end in -ful, -ous, -ive, -ate, -ible, -able. Adverbs end in -ly. This suffix scan takes 4 seconds vs. reading all four options fully in 15-20 seconds. Standard method: 20s. Suffix Scanner: 5s.
Remember this phrase: "Tomorrow, Yesterday, and Today never need a preposition escort." Any option that puts on, in, or at before these three words is automatically wrong. In a 4-option question where three options have a preposition before "tomorrow" and one does not, the bare option is always correct. Eliminate 3 wrong options in 3 seconds. Standard method (checking each option): 30s. This rule: 4s.
Possessive pronouns (yours, mine, his, hers, ours, theirs) never use an apostrophe. The moment you see "your's," "mine's," or "their's" in an option, kill it instantly — it is wrong by definition. This eliminates distractor options without any parsing. If you see "yours" and "your's" as two options, cross out "your's" in under 2 seconds. Standard elimination: 20s. Apostrophe Kill: 2s.
When the blank is followed by a noun (e.g., "__ book"), you need a possessive adjective: my, your, his, her, our, their. When the blank is not followed by a noun (e.g., "the book is __"), you need a possessive pronoun: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. Apply this test: look one word to the right of the blank. If there is a noun there, pick the adjective form. If the sentence ends or a comma/period follows, pick the pronoun form. This two-second rightward glance replaces 30 seconds of second-guessing.
O-I-A: check the sound (not the letter) at the start of the next word. Open vowel sound → an. Initial consonant sound → a. Already known or specific → the. A university starts with a "y" sound (consonant) → a university. An hour starts with an "ow" sound (vowel) → an hour. Checking spelling vs. sound catches 80% of article traps. Standard confusion time: 25s. OIA check: 5s.
When you see an English Grammar question in the exam hall, run this decision tree:
Step 1 — Identify the question type.
Step 2 — Eliminate immediately. Cross out options that have wrong suffixes, apostrophes on possessives, or illegal prepositions before time words. Most questions become 2-option after this.
Step 3 — Confirm, don't re-read. Once you have one remaining option, confirm it by reading the full sentence once with that word inserted. If it sounds natural, mark and move. Do not spend more than 45 seconds on any single grammar question.
Why this question: Tests whether you know that the same root produces different parts of speech, and that the verb form of a noun is often much shorter and simpler than the noun itself.
Solving path: Start by eliminating on suffixes. "Applicable" ends in -able → adjective. "Applicant" ends in -ant → noun (a person). "Appliance" ends in -ance → noun (a thing/device). What remains is "Apply" — a clean base verb. Also, the suffix test confirms: none of -ify/-ize/-ate/-en appear, but "Apply" is clearly a verb by its dictionary function. Answer: Apply. Time: under 10 seconds.
Why this question: Classic adjective-identification question where the distractor "Affectionately" (an adverb) is the most common wrong answer — it sounds sophisticated, so candidates pick it.
Solving path: The question asks for an adjective. Scan suffixes immediately. "Affect" → verb (no adjective suffix). "Affectionately" → ends in -ly → adverb, eliminate. "Affecting" → present participle, context-dependent but not the standard adjective here. "Affectionate" → ends in -ate → adjective. Confirmed: affectionate means "showing affection" — a pure descriptor, a proper adjective. Answer: Affectionate. Time: 8 seconds.
Why this question: Directly tests the rule that tomorrow, yesterday, and today never take a preposition. Three out of four options try to insert at, in, or on — the exam is baiting you.
Solving path: Apply "Tomorrow Needs No Escort" immediately. Options B, C, D all put a preposition before "tomorrow" — all three are eliminated in one sweep. Option A has no preposition before "tomorrow." Read it: "attack the enemy tomorrow" — natural and correct. Answer: Option A. Time: 6 seconds.
Why this question: Tests the possessive pronoun vs. possessive adjective distinction, and also catches the "your's" spelling trap that many candidates fall into.
Solving path: First, apply the Apostrophe Kill Rule — eliminate "your's" in option B immediately. Next, apply the Noun Test. "The white horse is ___" — nothing follows the blank (sentence ends after the blank for that clause). So you need a possessive pronoun, not a possessive adjective. "your/my" are possessive adjectives (require a noun after them) → eliminate option A. "you/I" are subject pronouns, not possessive at all → eliminate option D. What remains: "yours; mine" — both possessive pronouns, both stand alone correctly. Answer: yours; mine. Time: 12 seconds.
Picking "your's" or "mine's" as valid options. These spellings do not exist in English. Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. If you see one in an option, it is a trap, not a correct answer.
Confusing adverbs for adjectives. "Affectionately" looks impressive and sounds complete, so candidates pick it when asked for an adjective. Always check whether the question asks for adjective or adverb before looking at options.
Using "on tomorrow" or "in yesterday." The instinct to put a preposition before every time expression is wrong. tomorrow, yesterday, today, last week, next month are complete time expressions on their own — no preposition needed.
Treating "-ing" words automatically as verbs. "Affecting" and "Affecting" can be adjectives or verbs depending on context. In a word-form question, the question is asking for the standard/dictionary adjective form, which usually has a dedicated suffix like -ive, -ful, -ate, or -ous — not just -ing.
Mixing up "Applicant" and "Application." Both are nouns. "Applicant" is a person (the one who applies). "Application" is the process or document. The verb that generates both is "Apply." If the question asks for the verb, neither noun is correct.
Using present perfect tense with specific past-time markers. Writing "I have seen him yesterday" is wrong. "Yesterday" locks the action in the past, so use simple past: "I saw him yesterday." Present perfect never pairs with yesterday, last year, in 2019, or any pinned-down past time.