GATE Chemical Engineering General Aptitude Syllabus

General Aptitude syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for General Aptitude in GATE Chemical Engineering, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Verbal Aptitude

   3 topics

   • Basic English grammar
     • Tenses
     • Articles
     • Adjectives
     • Prepositions
     • Conjunctions
     • Verb-noun agreement
     • Other parts of speech
   • Basic vocabulary
     • Words
     • Idioms
     • Phrases in context
   • Reading and comprehension
     • Narrative sequencing
2. 2

   Quantitative Aptitude

   3 topics

   • Data interpretation
     • Data graphs (bar graphs, pie charts, and other graphs representing the data)
     • 2- and 3-dimensional plots
     • Maps and tables
   • Numerical computation and estimation
     • Ratios
     • Percentages
     • Powers
     • Exponents and logarithms
     • Permutations and combinations
     • Series
   • Mensuration and geometry
     • Elementary statistics and probability
3. 3

   Analytical Aptitude

   1 topic

   • Logic
     • Deduction and induction
     • Analogy
     • Numerical relations and reasoning
4. 4

   Spatial Aptitude

   2 topics

   • Transformation of shapes
     • Translation
     • Rotation
     • Scaling
     • Mirroring
     • Assembling and grouping
   • Paper folding, cutting, and patterns in 2 and 3 dimensions

General Aptitude flashcards for GATE Chemical Engineering

22 of 50 cards from the General Aptitude deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In English grammar, what are the eight parts of speech?

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

2. What is the function of an article in English, and what are the three articles?

   Articles are determiners that specify a noun as definite or indefinite. The three articles are "a" and "an" (indefinite) and "the" (definite).

3. When do you use the indefinite article "a" versus "an"?

   Use "a" before a word beginning with a consonant sound (a book, a university) and "an" before a word beginning with a vowel sound (an apple, an hour). The choice depends on sound, not spelling.

4. What is subject-verb agreement (verb-noun agreement)?

   The rule that a verb must agree with its subject in number and person: a singular subject takes a singular verb (He runs) and a plural subject takes a plural verb (They run).

5. In subject-verb agreement, what verb form do two singular subjects joined by "and" require?

   A plural verb. Example: "Tom and Jerry are friends." (compound subject is treated as plural).

6. With subjects joined by "either...or" or "neither...nor," how is verb agreement determined?

   The verb agrees with the nearer (closer) subject. Example: "Neither the students nor the teacher was present."

7. What are the three basic tenses in English, and what time does each refer to?

   Past (action already happened), present (action happening now or habitual), and future (action yet to happen).

8. Name the four aspects each tense can take in English.

   Simple, continuous (progressive), perfect, and perfect continuous.

9. What is the structure and use of the present perfect tense?

   Structure: have/has + past participle (e.g., "I have eaten"). It links a past action to the present, used for actions completed at an unspecified time or continuing up to now.

10. What is the structure of the past continuous tense and when is it used?

    Structure: was/were + present participle (-ing), e.g., "She was reading." Used for an ongoing action in the past, often interrupted by another action.

11. What is an adjective, and what are the three degrees of comparison?

    An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. The three degrees are positive (tall), comparative (taller), and superlative (tallest).

12. When forming comparatives, when do you add "-er/-est" versus using "more/most"?

    Short words (one syllable, some two) take "-er/-est" (fast, faster, fastest); longer words (most two+ syllables) take "more/most" (more beautiful, most beautiful).

13. What is a preposition, and what relationship does it show?

    A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relationship (of place, time, direction, or manner) to another word, e.g., in, on, at, by, with, under.

14. What is the difference between the prepositions "in," "on," and "at" for time?

    "At" is used for precise times (at 5 pm), "on" for days and dates (on Monday), and "in" for longer periods (in May, in 2026, in the morning).

15. What is a conjunction, and what are the two main types?

    A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses. The two main types are coordinating conjunctions (joining equal elements) and subordinating conjunctions (joining a dependent clause to a main clause).

16. What does the mnemonic FANBOYS stand for in English grammar?

    The seven coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

17. What is the difference between a coordinating and a subordinating conjunction?

    A coordinating conjunction (and, but, or) joins grammatically equal elements; a subordinating conjunction (because, although, since, while) introduces a dependent clause and shows its relationship to the main clause.

18. What is an adverb, and what does it modify?

    An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, often answering how, when, where, or to what degree (e.g., quickly, very, yesterday, here).

19. What is the difference between a pronoun and a noun?

    A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea; a pronoun (he, she, it, they, this) replaces a noun to avoid repetition.

20. What is an interjection? Give an example.

    An interjection is a word or phrase expressing sudden emotion, grammatically independent from the rest of the sentence, e.g., "Wow!", "Oh!", "Alas!"

21. What is an idiom in English?

    An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal meanings of its individual words, e.g., "kick the bucket" means to die.

22. What does the idiom "a blessing in disguise" mean?

    Something that seems bad or unlucky at first but results in something good.

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