GATE Statistics 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 Statistics, 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 Statistics

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

1. What is a 'tense' in English grammar, and what are its three basic divisions?

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

2. List the four aspects each English tense can take, with the present tense as an example.

   Simple, continuous (progressive), perfect, and perfect continuous. Examples: present simple 'I write', present continuous 'I am writing', present perfect 'I have written', present perfect continuous 'I have been writing'.

3. What is the difference between the present perfect and the simple past tense?

   The simple past ('I ate') refers to a completed action at a definite past time. The present perfect ('I have eaten') links a past action to the present, often with unspecified time or continuing relevance.

4. What are the three articles in English, and how are they classified?

   'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles; 'the' is the definite article. Indefinite articles refer to non-specific nouns; the definite article refers to a specific, already-known noun.

5. 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 choice depends on sound, not spelling.

6. What is an adjective, and what does it modify?

   An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, giving information about its quality, quantity, size, or other attributes (e.g., 'tall', 'three', 'beautiful').

7. Name the three degrees of comparison of adjectives with an example.

   Positive, comparative, and superlative. Example: 'tall' (positive), 'taller' (comparative), 'tallest' (superlative).

8. What is the correct order of adjectives in English when several precede a noun?

   Opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose, then the noun (e.g., 'a lovely small old round brown wooden writing desk').

9. What is a preposition, and what 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 in the sentence, e.g., 'in', 'on', 'at', 'between'.

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

    'At' is used for precise times (at 5 o'clock), 'on' for days and dates (on Monday), and 'in' for longer periods such as months, years, and parts of the day (in July, in 2020, in the morning).

11. What is a conjunction, and what are its two main classes?

    A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses. The two main classes are coordinating conjunctions (joining equal elements, e.g., and, but, or) and subordinating conjunctions (joining a dependent clause to a main clause, e.g., because, although, if).

12. What are correlative conjunctions? Give two examples.

    Correlative conjunctions are pairs that work together to join balanced elements. Examples: 'either...or', 'neither...nor', 'both...and', 'not only...but also'.

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

    A verb must agree with its subject in number: 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, what verb form do subjects joined by 'neither...nor' take?

    The verb agrees with the nearer (closer) subject. In 'Neither the teacher nor the students were present', 'were' agrees with 'students'.

15. Which verb number do collective nouns and indefinite pronouns like 'everyone' take?

    Indefinite pronouns such as 'everyone', 'each', 'somebody', and 'nobody' are singular and take a singular verb. Collective nouns (team, jury) usually take a singular verb when acting as one unit.

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

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

17. Name the eight parts of speech in English.

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

18. What is an interjection? Give an example.

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

19. What is the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb?

    A transitive verb requires a direct object to complete its meaning ('She reads a book'). An intransitive verb does not take a direct object ('He sleeps').

20. What are synonyms and antonyms?

    Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings (e.g., 'happy' and 'joyful'). Antonyms are words with opposite meanings (e.g., 'happy' and 'sad').

21. What are homophones? Give an example.

    Homophones are words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning, e.g., 'their', 'there', and 'they're', or 'to', 'too', and 'two'.

22. What is an idiom in English?

    An idiom is a fixed expression whose figurative meaning differs from the literal meanings of its individual words, e.g., 'kick the bucket' meaning 'to die'.

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