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🇵🇰 FPSC General Recruitment Test · subject
FPSC General Recruitment Test English Syllabus
The English syllabus for FPSC General Recruitment Test in full: 4 chapters and 22 topics, every one listed below, plus 49 English flashcards with answers.
English syllabus: all 4 chapters
Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.
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Grammar
7 topics- Parts of Speech
- Tenses
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Articles and Determiners
- Direct and Indirect Speech
- Active and Passive Voice
- Punctuation and Capitalization
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Vocabulary
5 topics- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- One-Word Substitutions
- Idioms and Phrases
- Commonly Confused Words
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Sentence Structure
6 topics- Sentence Correction
- Spotting Errors
- Sentence Completion
- Sentence Rearrangement
- Phrasal Verbs
- Prepositions Usage
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Comprehension and Composition
4 topics- Reading Comprehension
- Precis Writing
- Paragraph Writing
- Letter and Application Writing
FPSC General Recruitment Test English flashcards — 49 questions with answers
What are the eight parts of speech in English grammar?
Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection.
Define a 'collective noun' and give two examples.
A collective noun names a group of people or things treated as a single unit. Examples: team, jury, flock, herd, committee.
What is the difference between an abstract noun and a concrete noun?
A concrete noun names something perceivable by the senses (table, dog); an abstract noun names an idea, quality, or state (honesty, freedom, courage).
Name the three degrees of comparison for adjectives, with an example of each.
Positive (tall), Comparative (taller), and Superlative (tallest).
List the twelve tenses in English (the four aspects across three times).
Present/Past/Future Simple, Present/Past/Future Continuous, Present/Past/Future Perfect, and Present/Past/Future Perfect Continuous.
What is the structure of the Present Perfect tense, and what does it express?
Structure: subject + has/have + past participle (e.g., 'She has finished'). It links a past action to the present or expresses a completed action at an unspecified time.
Give the formula for the Past Continuous tense and its main use.
Formula: subject + was/were + verb-ing (e.g., 'They were playing'). It describes an action in progress at a specific point in the past.
What is the structure of the Future Perfect tense?
Subject + will have + past participle (e.g., 'By 2026 he will have graduated'). It expresses an action that will be completed before a future time.
State the basic rule of Subject-Verb Agreement.
A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb (e.g., 'He runs' vs. 'They run').
In Subject-Verb Agreement, what verb form do two singular subjects joined by 'and' take?
They normally take a plural verb (e.g., 'Tom and Jerry are friends'), unless they denote a single idea (e.g., 'Bread and butter is my breakfast').
When subjects are joined by 'either...or' or 'neither...nor', which subject governs the verb?
The verb agrees with the subject nearer to it (e.g., 'Neither the manager nor the workers are present').
Do words like 'each', 'every', 'everyone', and 'none' usually take a singular or plural verb?
They take a singular verb (e.g., 'Each of the boys is present'; 'Everyone was happy').
What are the three articles in English, and how are they classified?
'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles; 'the' is the definite article.
When do you use 'a' versus 'an'?
Use 'a' before a consonant sound (a book, a university) and 'an' before a vowel sound (an apple, an hour). It depends on sound, not spelling.
What are determiners? Give three categories with examples.
Determiners introduce nouns. Categories: articles (a, the), demonstratives (this, those), possessives (my, their), and quantifiers (some, many, few).
How do you change a direct statement to indirect speech when the reporting verb is in the past tense?
Backshift the tense (present→past, past→past perfect), change pronouns appropriately, and replace the comma and quotation marks with 'that' (e.g., He said, 'I am tired' → He said that he was tired).
In reported speech, how do 'now', 'today', 'tomorrow', and 'here' change?
now→then, today→that day, tomorrow→the next day, here→there, ago→before, this→that.
How is a direct question converted to indirect speech?
Use 'asked/inquired', change to statement word order, and for yes/no questions add 'if/whether' (e.g., He said, 'Are you ready?' → He asked if I was ready).
What is the basic rule for converting an active sentence to passive voice?
The object becomes the subject, the verb changes to a form of 'be' + past participle, and the subject becomes the agent introduced by 'by' (often optional).
Convert to passive: 'The chef cooks the meal.'
'The meal is cooked (by the chef).'
Show the other 29 English flashcards
How is the passive voice formed in the Present Continuous tense?
is/am/are + being + past participle (e.g., 'The house is being built').
Which tenses generally cannot be changed into the passive voice?
The perfect continuous tenses and the future continuous tense are not normally used in the passive.
What is the main difference in use between a comma and a semicolon?
A comma separates items in a list or clauses with a conjunction; a semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction (e.g., 'I came; I saw').
When is a colon used in punctuation?
A colon introduces a list, an explanation, a quotation, or an elaboration of what precedes it (e.g., 'She brought three things: a pen, a book, and a map').
State two key rules of capitalization in English.
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and all proper nouns (names of people, places, days, months, nationalities, titles).
What is the function of an apostrophe?
It shows possession (John's car) or marks omitted letters in contractions (don't = do not).
Give synonyms for the word 'abundant'.
Plentiful, ample, copious, profuse, bountiful.
Give synonyms for the word 'candid'.
Frank, honest, straightforward, open, sincere.
Give synonyms for the word 'diligent'.
Industrious, hardworking, assiduous, conscientious, persevering.
What is the antonym of 'benevolent'?
Malevolent (also: cruel, unkind, hostile).
What is the antonym of 'transparent'?
Opaque (also: obscure, unclear).
What is the antonym of 'frugal'?
Extravagant (also: wasteful, lavish, prodigal).
One-word substitution: 'A person who speaks many languages.'
Polyglot.
One-word substitution: 'A government run by the wealthy.'
Plutocracy.
One-word substitution: 'One who does not believe in the existence of God.'
Atheist.
One-word substitution: 'A medicine that counteracts a poison.'
Antidote.
What does the idiom 'to bite the bullet' mean?
To endure a painful or difficult situation with courage; to face something unavoidable.
What does the idiom 'once in a blue moon' mean?
Very rarely; almost never.
What does the idiom 'to let the cat out of the bag' mean?
To reveal a secret, often by accident.
Distinguish between 'affect' and 'effect'.
'Affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence ('Rain affects crops'); 'effect' is usually a noun meaning result ('The effect was clear').
Distinguish between 'stationary' and 'stationery'.
'Stationary' (with an 'a') means not moving; 'stationery' (with an 'e') means writing materials like paper and pens.
Distinguish between 'principal' and 'principle'.
'Principal' means chief/head (the school principal) or main; 'principle' means a rule or fundamental truth.
Correct the sentence: 'He is junior than me.'
'He is junior to me.' Latin-derived comparatives (junior, senior, superior, inferior, prior) take 'to', not 'than'.
Correct the sentence: 'One of my friend is a doctor.'
'One of my friends is a doctor.' 'One of' is followed by a plural noun and a singular verb.
Spot the error: 'The scenery of Kashmir are very beautiful.'
Error is 'are'; it should be 'is'. 'Scenery' is an uncountable (singular) noun: 'The scenery of Kashmir is very beautiful.'
In sentence completion, what does a contrast word like 'although', 'but', or 'however' signal?
It signals that the missing part contrasts with or opposes the preceding idea, so the blank needs an opposite-direction word.
What is the recommended method for solving sentence rearrangement (jumbled sentence) questions?
Identify the opening sentence (independent idea), find logical links via pronouns, connectors, and time order, and trace the flow to the concluding sentence.
What is a phrasal verb? Give the meaning of 'call off' and 'put off'.
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a preposition/adverb forming a new meaning. 'Call off' = to cancel; 'put off' = to postpone.
Which prepositions are correctly used: 'good ___ , married ___ , afraid ___ , angry ___ (a person)'?
Good at, married to, afraid of, angry with (a person).
FPSC General Recruitment Test English FAQ
What is in the FPSC General Recruitment Test English syllabus?
FPSC General Recruitment Test English is split into 4 chapters: Grammar, Vocabulary, Sentence Structure and Comprehension and Composition. Together they contain 22 topics.
How many chapters are in FPSC General Recruitment Test English?
4 chapters, containing 22 topics. The largest chapter is Grammar, with 7 topics.
Are there flashcards for FPSC General Recruitment Test English?
Yes — a 49-card English deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.