AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test) Verbal Ability in English Syllabus

Name the eight parts of speech in English grammar.

Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

What is the function of an adjective and an adverb?

An adjective modifies/describes a noun or pronoun (a fast car). An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb (he runs fast).

What is a conjunction? Give two examples.

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses. Examples: and, but, or, because, although.

What is an interjection? Give an example.

An interjection is a word expressing sudden emotion, usually followed by an exclamation mark (e.g., Wow!, Alas!, Oh!).

In sentence correction, what is subject-verb agreement?

The rule that a verb must agree with its subject in number and person: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Correct the error: 'One of the boys are absent.'

'One of the boys is absent.' The subject is 'one' (singular), so the verb must be 'is'.

Correct the error: 'Neither of the two girls were present.'

'Neither of the two girls was present.' 'Neither' is singular and takes a singular verb.

Correct the error: 'He is senior than me.'

'He is senior to me.' Words like senior, junior, prior, superior, inferior take the preposition 'to', not 'than'.

What is the most common preposition used after 'different', 'good', and 'married'?

Different from, good at, married to.

Which prepositions are used with 'congratulate', 'depend', and 'consist'?

Congratulate on, depend on/upon, consist of.

What is the difference between the coordinating conjunctions 'but' and 'and'?

'And' adds information of a similar kind, while 'but' introduces a contrast or opposite idea.

What is the rule for converting active voice to passive voice?

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence; the verb changes to the appropriate form of 'be' + past participle; and the original subject becomes the agent introduced by 'by'.

Convert to passive voice: 'The teacher praised the student.'

'The student was praised by the teacher.'

Convert to passive voice: 'Someone has stolen my bicycle.'

'My bicycle has been stolen.'

What changes occur when converting direct speech to indirect (reported) speech?

Quotation marks are removed, a reporting conjunction (that) may be added, pronouns and tenses are shifted back (present to past), and time/place words change (now to then, here to there, today to that day).

Convert to indirect speech: He said, 'I am busy now.'

He said that he was busy then.

Convert to indirect speech: She said, 'I will go tomorrow.'

She said that she would go the next day.

How do you report a question in indirect speech, e.g., He asked, 'Where do you live?'

Use 'asked' with no question mark and statement word order: He asked where I lived.

In reading comprehension, what is the difference between the 'main idea' and a 'supporting detail'?

The main idea is the central point the passage conveys, while supporting details are facts, examples, or reasons that explain or back up the main idea.

What does it mean to infer the 'tone' of a passage in reading comprehension?

Tone refers to the author's attitude toward the subject (e.g., critical, optimistic, satirical, neutral), inferred from word choice and style rather than stated directly.

What is a cloze test in verbal ability?

A cloze test is a passage with several blanks where you must choose the most appropriate word for each blank based on grammar, vocabulary, and context/coherence.

What is the key strategy for solving a cloze test?

Read the whole passage first to grasp the context, then fill each blank using grammar (part of speech, agreement), collocation, and the logical flow/connectors of the passage.

What is a sentence completion (fill in the blanks) question?

A question with one or more blanks in a sentence that must be filled with the word(s) that best fit grammatically and contextually to make a meaningful sentence.

In sentence completion, how do contrast words like 'although', 'but', and 'however' guide the answer?

They signal that the missing word should contrast with another idea in the sentence, so you choose a word opposite in meaning to the contrasted part.

What is a para jumble (sentence rearrangement) question?

A set of jumbled sentences that must be reordered to form a coherent, logically connected paragraph.

What clues help in solving para jumbles?

Identify the opening sentence (introduces the topic), then use connectors, pronoun references, time sequence, and cause-effect links to find logical order; mandatory pairs of sentences also help.

What is a 'sentence improvement' question?

A question that gives a sentence with one part underlined and asks you to choose the best replacement (or 'no improvement') to make it grammatically correct and clearer.

What is the 'ordering of words in a sentence' question type?

A type where jumbled words or word-groups (often labeled) must be arranged in the correct order to form a grammatically correct and meaningful sentence.

What basic word order should you follow when arranging words in a simple English sentence?

The standard order is Subject + Verb + Object (SVO), with adjectives before nouns and adverbs typically near the verb they modify.

What is the difference between the verbs 'lie' and 'lay' in error spotting?

'Lie' is intransitive and takes no object (to recline): lie, lay, lain. 'Lay' is transitive and takes an object (to place something): lay, laid, laid.