BDS Admission Test English Syllabus

What is a preposition?

A word that shows the relationship of a noun/pronoun to another word, usually indicating place, time, or direction (e.g., in, on, at, to, by).

Which prepositions are typically used for a specific time, a day/date, and a longer period (month/year)?

'at' for a precise time, 'on' for days/dates, 'in' for months, years, and longer periods.

What are the three articles in English and their two types?

a, an, and the. 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles; 'the' is the definite article.

When do you use 'a' versus 'an'?

Use 'a' before a consonant sound and 'an' before a vowel sound (e.g., a university, an hour).

What is the correct preposition: 'good ___ mathematics'?

'at' — good at mathematics.

What is the correct preposition: 'married ___ him'?

'to' — married to him.

In error identification, what are the most common error categories to check?

Subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, pronoun reference, prepositions/articles, parallelism, and word form (part of speech).

Identify the error: 'He don't like tea.' What is the correction?

Subject-verb agreement error: should be 'He doesn't like tea.'

Identify the error: 'She is more taller than me.'

Double comparative: should be 'She is taller than me' (remove 'more').

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

Subject-verb agreement: 'One' is singular, so it should be 'One of the boys is absent.'

Choose the correct word: 'effect' or 'affect' — 'The medicine will ___ his recovery.'

'affect' (verb meaning to influence); 'effect' is usually a noun meaning result.

Choose the correct word: 'their', 'there', or 'they're' for 'I put it over ___.'

'there' (indicates place).

What is the difference between 'principal' and 'principle'?

'principal' = head of a school OR main/chief; 'principle' = a fundamental rule or belief.

What is the difference between 'accept' and 'except'?

'accept' = to receive/agree to; 'except' = excluding/apart from.

What is the difference between 'fewer' and 'less'?

'fewer' is used with countable nouns (fewer books); 'less' is used with uncountable nouns (less water).

In contextual sentence completion, what should the chosen word match?

It must fit the sentence's grammar (part of speech, tense, number) and its meaning/tone (logic, contrast, cause-effect).

Fill in the blank: 'Although he was tired, he ___ continued working.' What kind of word fits?

A word showing contrast/persistence, e.g., 'nevertheless' or 'still' — signaled by 'Although'.

Fill in the blank: 'It was raining heavily; ___ the match was cancelled.'

'therefore' (a result/cause-effect connector).

What is the first step in answering a reading-passage question?

Read the passage to grasp the main idea, then read the question and locate the relevant supporting detail in the text.

What is the difference between a 'detail' question and a 'main idea' question in reading comprehension?

A detail question asks about a specific fact stated in the passage; a main idea question asks about the central point of the whole passage.

What is an inference in reading comprehension?

A logical conclusion drawn from evidence in the text that is implied but not directly stated.

How is the main idea of a passage different from its topic?

The topic is what the passage is about (a word/phrase); the main idea is the central point or message the author makes about that topic (a full statement).

Where is the main idea or topic sentence usually found in a paragraph?

Most often at the beginning (first sentence), though it can also appear at the end or be implied.

What does 'tone' refer to in a reading passage?

The author's attitude or feeling toward the subject (e.g., critical, humorous, objective, optimistic).

What is a verbal analogy?

A comparison showing the relationship between two pairs of words, where the second pair relates in the same way as the first (A is to B as C is to D).

In the analogy 'hot : cold :: up : ___', what completes it and what is the relationship?

'down' — the relationship is antonyms (opposites).

In the analogy 'puppy : dog :: kitten : ___', what completes it and what is the relationship?

'cat' — the relationship is young-to-adult animal.

In the analogy 'finger : hand :: leaf : ___', what completes it?

'tree' (or branch) — the relationship is part to whole.

In the analogy 'doctor : hospital :: teacher : ___', what completes it and what is the relationship?

'school' — the relationship is worker to workplace.

Name four common types of word-relationship/analogy connections.

Synonym, antonym, part-to-whole, cause-and-effect (others: worker-to-tool, item-to-category, degree).