GATE Environmental 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 Environmental 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 Environmental Engineering

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

1. What are the eight parts of speech in basic English grammar?

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

2. Define a 'tense' in English grammar and name the three primary tenses.

   Tense is the grammatical form of a verb that indicates the time of an action or state. The three primary tenses are past, present, and future.

3. What are the four aspects each tense can take, illustrated for the present tense?

   Simple (I write), Continuous/Progressive (I am writing), Perfect (I have written), and Perfect Continuous (I have been writing).

4. When do you use the present perfect tense versus the simple past tense?

   Present perfect ('have/has + past participle') links a past action to the present or an unspecified time (e.g., 'I have visited Delhi'). Simple past states a completed action at a specific finished time (e.g., 'I visited Delhi in 2010').

5. What is the difference between the definite and indefinite articles?

   The definite article 'the' refers to a specific, known noun. The indefinite articles 'a' and 'an' refer to a non-specific or first-mentioned singular countable noun.

6. State the rule for choosing between the indefinite articles 'a' and '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 sound, not the letter, decides.

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

   An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. Its three degrees of comparison are positive (tall), comparative (taller), and superlative (tallest).

8. How are the comparative and superlative degrees normally formed for short versus long adjectives?

   Short adjectives add '-er'/'-est' (fast, faster, fastest). Longer adjectives (usually 3+ syllables) use 'more'/'most' (more beautiful, most beautiful). Some are irregular (good, better, best).

9. What is a preposition? Give three common types with examples.

   A preposition shows the relationship of a noun/pronoun to another word. Types include place (in, on, under), time (at, before, during), and direction (to, into, towards).

10. Distinguish the prepositions 'in', 'on', and 'at' for expressing time.

    'In' is used for longer periods (in May, in 2020), 'on' for specific days/dates (on Monday, on July 4), and 'at' for precise times (at 5 pm, at noon).

11. What is a conjunction, and what are its three main types?

    A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses. The three types are coordinating (and, but, or), subordinating (because, although, while), and correlative (either...or, neither...nor).

12. List the seven coordinating conjunctions remembered by the acronym FANBOYS.

    For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.

13. State the rule of subject-verb (verb-noun) agreement.

    A verb must agree with its subject in number and person: a singular subject takes a singular verb (The dog runs), and a plural subject takes a plural verb (The dogs run).

14. In subject-verb agreement, how are subjects joined by 'either...or' or 'neither...nor' treated?

    The verb agrees with the noun nearest to it (the proximity rule), e.g., 'Neither the manager nor the workers are present' and 'Neither the workers nor the manager is present'.

15. What is an adverb, and what four main questions can it answer?

    An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. It typically answers how (manner), when (time), where (place), and to what extent (degree).

16. Differentiate the pronouns 'who' and 'whom'.

    'Who' is the subject form (Who called?), while 'whom' is the object form (To whom did you speak?). A quick test: if the answer is 'he/she', use 'who'; if 'him/her', use 'whom'.

17. 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.

18. What does the idiom 'a blessing in disguise' mean?

    Something that seems bad or unfortunate at first but results in a good or beneficial outcome.

19. What does the idiom 'to bite the bullet' mean?

    To force oneself to endure or face a difficult, unpleasant, or painful situation with courage.

20. Define a phrase and contrast it with a clause.

    A phrase is a group of related words lacking a subject-verb pair and not expressing a complete thought (e.g., 'on the table'). A clause contains a subject and a verb (e.g., 'she sat').

21. In vocabulary, what is the difference between a synonym and an antonym?

    A synonym is a word with the same or nearly the same meaning as another (happy/joyful), while an antonym is a word with the opposite meaning (happy/sad).

22. What is a homophone? Give an example.

    A homophone is one of two or more words pronounced alike but differing in meaning and usually spelling, e.g., 'their', 'there', and 'they're', or 'to', 'too', and 'two'.

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