UPSC NDA English Syllabus

English syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for English in UPSC NDA, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Grammar and Usage

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

2. 2

   Vocabulary

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

3. 3

   Comprehension

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

4. 4

   Cohesion and Coherence

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

5. 5

   Spotting Errors

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

6. 6

   Sentence Improvement

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

7. 7

   Synonyms and Antonyms

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

8. 8

   Idioms and Phrases

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

9. 9

   Fill in the Blanks

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

10. 10

    Cloze Test

    overview

    Examined as a single unit within English — no further topic split in the official outline.

English flashcards for UPSC NDA

23 of 50 cards from the English deck — real questions with worked answers.

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

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

2. What is the difference between a proper noun and a common noun?

   A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing and is always capitalised (e.g., Delhi, Ganga); a common noun names a general class of things (e.g., city, river).

3. What are the four types of nouns besides proper nouns?

   Common nouns (general names), collective nouns (groups, e.g., army, herd), abstract nouns (qualities/ideas, e.g., honesty), and material/concrete nouns (substances or tangible objects).

4. What are the three degrees of comparison of adjectives, with an example?

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

5. How is the comparative and superlative formed for the adjective 'good'?

   'Good' is irregular: comparative is 'better' and superlative is 'best'. Similarly, 'bad' becomes 'worse' and 'worst'.

6. What are the three main verb tenses, and how many aspects does each have?

   Past, present, and future. Each has four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous), giving twelve tense forms in total.

7. What is the structure (formula) of the Present Perfect tense?

   Subject + has/have + past participle (V3). Example: 'She has finished the report.' It links a past action to the present.

8. What is the structure of the Past Perfect tense, and when is it used?

   Subject + had + past participle (V3). It shows an action completed before another past action, e.g., 'The train had left before we reached the station.'

9. What is the structure of the Future Perfect tense?

   Subject + will have + past participle (V3). Example: 'By 2025, he will have completed his degree.' It shows an action finished before a future point.

10. Which tense expresses habitual actions and universal truths, and what is its structure?

    The Simple Present tense. Structure: Subject + base verb (+ -s/-es for third-person singular). Example: 'Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.'

11. What is the basic rule of subject-verb agreement?

    A verb must agree with its subject in number and person: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. Example: 'He writes' vs. 'They write.'

12. In subject-verb agreement, what verb form do two singular subjects joined by 'and' usually take?

    A plural verb, because they form a plural subject. Example: 'Ram and Shyam are here.' (Exception: when the two nouns refer to one person or idea, a singular verb is used.)

13. When subjects are joined by 'either...or' or 'neither...nor', which subject decides the verb?

    The verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. Example: 'Neither the teacher nor the students were present.'

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

    'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles (non-specific); 'the' is the definite article (specific). There are three articles in total.

15. 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). The rule depends on sound, not spelling.

16. What is the difference between the active voice and the passive voice?

    In the active voice the subject performs the action ('The dog bit the man'); in the passive voice the subject receives the action ('The man was bitten by the dog').

17. What is the general rule for changing a sentence from active to passive voice?

    The object of the active sentence becomes the subject; use the appropriate form of 'be' + past participle; the original subject becomes the agent with 'by'. Example: 'She wrote a letter' becomes 'A letter was written by her.'

18. In reported (indirect) speech, how do present tenses generally change?

    They shift one step back: present simple becomes past simple, present continuous becomes past continuous, and present perfect becomes past perfect (this is called backshifting).

19. In indirect speech, what does 'now' change to, and what does 'here' change to?

    'Now' becomes 'then' and 'here' becomes 'there'. Similarly, 'today' becomes 'that day' and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'.

20. What are the three types of conjunctions?

    Coordinating (and, but, or, so), subordinating (because, although, if, when), and correlative (either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also).

21. What is a preposition? Give two common examples.

    A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence, often indicating place, time, or direction. Examples: 'in', 'on', 'under', 'between'.

22. What is the difference between 'between' and 'among'?

    'Between' is used for two persons or things; 'among' is used for more than two. Example: 'between you and me' vs. 'among the three of them'.

23. What is the difference between a phrase and a clause?

    A phrase is a group of related words without a subject-verb pair; a clause contains both a subject and a finite verb. Example: 'in the morning' (phrase) vs. 'when the sun rose' (clause).

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