Civil Judge Examination English Syllabus

What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb?

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun; an adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

List the four aspects/forms of each English tense.

Simple, Continuous (Progressive), Perfect, and Perfect Continuous.

How is the Present Perfect tense formed?

has/have + past participle (e.g., 'She has written the report').

How is the Past Continuous tense formed?

was/were + present participle (verb + -ing) (e.g., 'They were studying').

What is subject-verb agreement?

The rule that a verb must agree with its subject in number and person (singular subject takes a singular verb).

With 'either...or' / 'neither...nor', the verb agrees with which subject?

With the subject nearest to the verb (the proximity rule).

Identify the error type: 'Each of the boys have a book.' What is the correction?

Subject-verb agreement error. Correct: 'Each of the boys has a book.' ('Each' is singular.)

What is a dangling modifier?

A modifying phrase that does not clearly or logically refer to the word it is meant to modify (e.g., 'Walking home, the rain started').

What is faulty parallelism, with an example correction?

Joining items in a list that are not in the same grammatical form. Wrong: 'She likes reading and to write.' Right: 'She likes reading and writing.'

What is a comma splice and how is it corrected?

Two independent clauses joined only by a comma. Fix with a period, semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction.

When is a semicolon (;) used?

To join two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction, or to separate list items that already contain commas.

When is a colon (:) used?

To introduce a list, explanation, quotation, or example after a complete independent clause.

What is the use of an apostrophe?

To show possession (e.g., 'John's book') or to mark omitted letters in contractions (e.g., 'don't').

How do you punctuate a direct quotation?

Enclose the exact words in quotation marks, with a comma before the quote and the closing punctuation inside the quotation marks (e.g., He said, "I agree.").

Where is the Oxford (serial) comma used?

Before the final 'and'/'or' in a list of three or more items (e.g., 'red, white, and blue').

What is the difference between a synonym and an antonym?

A synonym is a word with the same or similar meaning; an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning.

Give a synonym and an antonym for 'benevolent'.

Synonym: kind/generous; Antonym: cruel/malevolent.

Give a synonym and an antonym for 'abate'.

Synonym: lessen/diminish; Antonym: increase/intensify.

Give a synonym and an antonym for 'candid'.

Synonym: frank/honest; Antonym: deceptive/evasive.

Give a synonym and an antonym for 'lucid'.

Synonym: clear/intelligible; Antonym: obscure/confusing.

What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb pair; a clause contains a subject and a predicate (verb).

What is an idiom? Give an example.

A fixed expression whose meaning is not literal, e.g., 'kick the bucket' meaning to die.

What does the legal phrase 'mutatis mutandis' mean?

'With the necessary changes having been made' — applying something with appropriate modifications.

What does 'prima facie' mean?

'On the face of it' / at first sight — based on the first impression, accepted as correct until proved otherwise.

What does 'ipso facto' mean?

'By the fact itself' — as a direct and inevitable consequence of a particular fact.

What does the maxim 'audi alteram partem' mean?

'Hear the other side' — the principle of natural justice that no one should be condemned unheard.

In Urdu-to-English translation, what should you preserve besides the literal words?

The meaning, tone, register, and idiomatic sense — translating sense-for-sense, not merely word-for-word, in grammatically correct English.

When translating Urdu legal/formal text to English, what register should be used?

A formal register with correct legal/standard terminology, avoiding colloquial or literal renderings that distort meaning.

What is the correct way to translate Urdu idioms into English?

Render them by an equivalent English idiom or by their intended meaning, not by literal word-for-word translation.

What are the key qualities of an effective precis?

Clarity, conciseness, coherence, completeness of main ideas, objectivity, and a connected single-paragraph form with a suitable title.

What is the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing a passage?

Summarizing condenses only the main ideas in shorter form; paraphrasing restates the full content in different words at roughly the same length.