Grammar / Parts of Speech Questions for CDS

Noun

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. CDS tests nouns mainly through collective nouns, countable vs uncountable nouns, and noun-verb agreement. Remember: uncountable nouns like advice, information, furniture, luggage take singular verbs. Collective nouns like army, committee, jury can take singular or plural verbs depending on context.

• Uncountable nouns never take 'a/an' and never become plural: 'advices' and 'informations' are always wrong
• Collective noun acting as one unit takes singular verb: The jury has given its verdict
• Collective noun showing divided action takes plural verb: The jury are arguing among themselves
• Abstract nouns like honesty, courage are uncountable — do not pluralise them
• Compound nouns: mother-in-law, passers-by — pluralise the main noun, not the modifier

Pronoun

Pronouns replace nouns. CDS loves testing pronoun-antecedent agreement, reflexive pronouns, and who vs whom. The key rule: who is a subject pronoun, whom is an object pronoun. Replace with he/she to check who, replace with him/her to check whom. Reflexive pronouns like myself, yourself cannot be used as subjects.

• Who = subject (he/she): Who called you? He called = Who called
• Whom = object (him/her): Whom did you call? You called him = Whom
• Myself cannot replace I: 'Myself and Ravi went' is wrong — 'Ravi and I went' is correct
• Each, everyone, nobody, someone take singular pronouns: Everyone must do his/her duty
• Between you and me is correct, never 'between you and I'

Verb

Verbs show action or state. CDS tests subject-verb agreement, correct tense usage, and transitive vs intransitive verbs most frequently. Error-spotting questions often hide a plural subject between singular phrases to confuse you. Always find the real subject and match the verb to it, ignoring interrupting phrases.

• Phrases like along with, together with, as well as do NOT change the verb — verb agrees with the first subject
• Either/or and neither/nor: verb agrees with the noun closer to it
• Lie (to recline) is intransitive — never takes an object; Lay (to place) is transitive — takes an object
• Bring vs Take: bring = toward speaker, take = away from speaker
• After modals (can, will, should, must), always use bare infinitive: He can go, not He can goes

Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns. CDS tests comparison errors, misplaced adjectives, and adjective vs adverb confusion. The most common trap is using an adjective where an adverb is needed (e.g., He runs quick vs He runs quickly). Also watch out for double comparatives like more better or more faster — these are always wrong.

• Use comparative (er/more) for two things, superlative (est/most) for three or more
• Double comparative is wrong: more better, more faster — pick one form
• Elder/eldest is used only for family members; Older/oldest is used for general comparison
• Farther = physical distance; Further = additional degree or extent
• Predicate adjective follows a linking verb: She looks beautiful (not beautifully)

Adverb

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. CDS frequently tests placement of adverbs like only, even, almost, nearly — these must be placed immediately before the word they modify. Misplacement completely changes meaning. Also tested: confusing hard (correct) with hardly (means scarcely — opposite meaning).

• Only should sit right before the word it modifies: 'I only eat rice' vs 'I eat only rice' have different meanings
• Hard = with effort (He worked hard); Hardly = scarcely/almost not (He hardly worked)
• Late = not on time (He came late); Lately = recently (He has been busy lately)
• Near = close in place; Nearly = almost (I nearly missed the bus)
• Adverbs do not modify nouns — 'a fairly girl' is wrong; 'a fairly tall girl' is correct

Preposition

Prepositions show relationship between nouns/pronouns and other words. CDS tests fixed preposition phrases (phrasal verbs and idioms) and at vs in vs on for time and place. Memorising common preposition combos used with specific verbs and adjectives is more efficient than learning rules.

• At for specific time/small place: at 5 pm, at the door; In for larger place/period: in Delhi, in March; On for day/date/surface: on Monday, on the table
• Married to (not married with); Differ from (two things differ from each other); Die of (disease, not die from)
• Afraid of, accused of, aware of, proud of — all use 'of'
• Agree with (a person), agree to (a proposal), agree on (a point)
• Preposition at end of sentence is acceptable in modern English — do not blindly mark it as error

Conjunction and Interjection

Conjunctions join words or clauses. CDS tests correlative conjunctions like either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also — these must be placed symmetrically (parallel structure). Interjections express emotion and are rarely tested directly but may appear in error-spotting related to punctuation.

• Not only/but also must join parallel structures: Not only did he sing but also danced — wrong structure
• Neither/nor and either/or: both parts must join same type of elements
• Although/though cannot be paired with yet — use one or the other: Although he tried, he failed (not although...yet)
• Since and because both show reason — do not use reason is because together (redundant)
• Scarcely/hardly/no sooner must be followed by when or than, not 'then'

• Using myself as a subject: 'Myself attended the meeting' — always wrong. Reflexive pronouns need an antecedent in the same sentence.
• Misidentifying the subject when a phrase interrupts: 'The quality of the mangoes are good' — subject is quality (singular), so verb must be 'is'.
• Confusing hard and hardly: 'He hardly worked' means he barely worked. Aspirants often think it means he worked hard. Opposite meanings.
• Double comparatives: 'more better' or 'most fastest' — always wrong. Never use more/most with er/est forms.
• Pairing although with yet: 'Although he tried yet he failed' — incorrect. Drop either although or yet, keep only one.

• NAVPAPCI = Noun, Adverb, Verb, Pronoun, Adjective, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection — the 8 parts of speech in one word-like sequence.
• WHO vs WHOM trick: swap with HE/HIM. HE goes with WHO, HIM goes with WHOM. Both end in M — WHOM and HIM.
• HALT for uncountable nouns that never pluralise: Homework, Advice, Luggage, Traffic (plus furniture, information, equipment).
• Scarcely/Hardly/No sooner — remember SHN needs WHEN or THAN (not then): think SHenWT — S-H-N followed by W-T.

• CDS error-spotting sentences are 3-4 clauses long. Read each clause separately and check subject-verb agreement, pronoun reference, and preposition usage in that order.
• Fill-in-the-blanks on parts of speech often test adjective vs adverb pairs: quick/quickly, hard/hardly, late/lately. These are fast one-mark questions — memorise the pairs.
• Sentence improvement questions frequently have a correct option as no improvement. Do not change a sentence just because it sounds slightly awkward — check the actual rule.
• In recent CDS papers (2022-2024), preposition-based questions on at/in/on for time and place appear almost every paper. These are free marks if you revise the rule chart once.
• Spend no more than 40-45 seconds on a grammar question. If a rule does not come to mind quickly, eliminate two obvious wrong options and guess — do not waste time on grammar at the cost of comprehension.