Grammar and Bit Banks for Bank Exams in English

Sakshi Education

Friends here is the study material for bank probartionary officer's exam. Before going into the details let us take a look at the syllabus and preparation strategy. The English section of probartionary officer's exam has two categories objective and descriptive papers. For objective the questions are based on grammar, comprehension and vocabulary. For grammar the questions are based on subject-verb agreement, tenses, prepositions and articles. More than 65% questions are given from these areas. In sentence correction the first thing you have to check is concord i.e. subject-verb agreement. Apart from this the questions will also be given from tenses and prepositions. After getting enough knowledge on these areas move on to prepare on adverbs and pronouns.
One way to begin studying basic sentence structures is to consider the traditional parts of speech. To know for sure what part of speech a word is, we have to look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence. Assuming that many of you have undergone proper education for all these years elaborate explanation is not being given on this section.
The next thing which is important is the sentence structure. The basic parts of a sentence are the subject, the verb and the object. The subject is usually a noun--a word that nam es a person, place, or thing. The verb or predicate usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state of being. An object receives the action and usually follows the verb.
☛Follow our YouTube Channel (Click Here)
A sentence expresses a relationship, conveys a command, voices a question, or describes someone or something. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.
See if you can identify the subject and the predicate in each of the following short sentences:
F   The dog barks.
F       My daughter is a dancer.
F   The children are tired.
In each of these sentences, the subject is a noun: dog, daughter, and children. The verb in the first sentence-barks shows action and answers the question, "What does the subject do?" The verbs in the next two sentences--is, are--are called linking verbs because they link the subject with a word that renames it (dancer) or describes it (tired).
Look at the table below and understand the typical sentence structure.

Subject	Verb	Complement	Modifier of time
The pilot	completed	his training	last year.
All students	must submit	their assignments	by next week.
The boy	enjoys	fishing.

The subject of a sentence may be a singular word noun, such as teacher or table or it may be a noun phrase. A noun phrase is a group of words ending with a noun but not beginning with a preposition.

Adjectives and Adverbs
A common way of expanding the basic sentence is with modifiers--words that add to the meanings of other words. The simplest modifiers are adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Example:
Maggie cooked the chicken on the grill.
Noun verb complement modifier
Adjective Clauses
To show that one idea in a sentence is more important than another, we rely on subordination--that is, treating one word group as secondary (or subordinate) to another. One common form of subordination is the adjective clause--a word group that modifies a noun. The most common adjective clauses begin with one of these relative pronouns: who, which, and that.
Example:
Although the bear is able to sprint rapidly,
-Clause
it tires easily due to its weight.

☛ Follow our Instagram Page (Click Here)

Appositives
An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames another word in a sentence--most often a noun that immediately precedes it. Appositive constructions offer concise ways of describing or defining a person, place, or thing.

Example: Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana is famous for pearls.

Adverb Clauses
Like an adjective clause, an adverb clause is always dependent on (or subordinate to) an independent clause. Like an ordinary adverb, an adverb clause usually modifies a verb, though it can also modify an adjective, an adverb, or even the rest of the sentence in which it appears. An adverb clause begins with a subordinating conjunction--an adverb that connects the subordinate clause to the main clause.
Example: When Julie returned, she found Tom very ill.

Participle Phrases
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns. All present participles end in -ing. The past participles of all regular verbs end in -ed. Irregular verbs, however, have various past participle endings. Participles and participial phrases can add vigour to our writing as they add information to our sentences.
Example: Is that John running for the bus?

Absolute Phrases
Among the various kinds of modifiers, the absolute phrase may be the least common but one of the most useful. An absolute phrase, which consists of a noun plus at least one other word, adds details to an entire sentence--details that often describe one aspect of someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the sentence.
Example: A linguistics student studies how languages are created.
Structures generally test one of the following items:

Sentence structure: This area questions test more than a word or two; they test the ability to make a sentence complete. Sentence structure questions also test one's understanding of subordinate clauses.
Word order: Word order questions are generally more detail-oriented than sentence structure questions. For example, it gives the knowledge pertaining to one's understanding whether an adjective should appear before the noun it modifies, not after it.
☛ Join our WhatsApp Channel (Click Here)
Word form: These questions test your ability to recognize which form of a word should be used in a given situation. Word form questions include recognizing which ending should be on a word. For example, you need to recognize if a plural ending on a noun should be singular, a singular designation on a verb should be plural and so on. It also requires you to determine that an adjective form of a word is being used when the noun form of the word is required.
Word choice: Word choice type of questions test your understanding of idiomatic expressions, words often confused, appropriate prepositional usage and so on.
Missing or extra words: Missing or extra word questions overlap with some other categories, but they are easy to recognize than some other question types.

Practice test
The questions given below consists of incomplete sentences, with a blank line showing where information is to be filled in. Choose the word that most correctly completes the sentence.
1.   The twinkling stars ____ shining brightly.
   a) Are    b) is
   c) have    d) had
2.   Despite the polar bear's tremendous weight and height, ____ of sprinting at tremendous speed.
   a) It is capable   b) is capable
   c) it is able       d) ability
3.   The twinkling stars, which shine so brightly, ____ very far away.
   a) Are    b) was
   c) have    d) had
4.   The rain forest, ____ large trees that provide shade to the vegetation below, is home to unique flora and fauna.
   a) Has   b) with its
   c) and   d) although has
5.   The leaders of the two countries ____ an agreement to avoid future conflicts.
   a) Have recently reached
   b) recently reach
   c) have reached recently
   d) have recently reach
6.   Laura had hurt her leg and ____ not walk very well.
   a) Should       b) would
   c) could       d) had
7.   They did not want to come with us at first but we ____ able to persuade them.
   a) Was   b) were   c) are d) is
8.   Chocolate cake with raspberry filling ____ my favourite.
   a) Had b) is c) but   d) yet
9.   The giraffe's long neck ____ for reaching the tops of trees.
   a) Is useful       b) used
   c) using       d) being used
10.   The giraffe's long neck and long, spindly legs ____ strange sight to see.
   a) Are a   b) were c) had d) have
11.   A tray of mouth-watering cookies and frosted cupcakes ____ for you.
   a) Wait       b) is waiting
   c) waited       d) waiting
☛ Join our Telegram Channel (Click Here)
12.   The pad of paper ____ a grocery list on it.
   a) Have been   b) has
   c) will       d) can
13.   The phone is ringing. Who do you think it is? 'It ____ be Rahul.'
   a) Would       b) should
   c) could       d) can
14.   Eating six eggs ____ breakfast might give you a stomach ache.
   a) To        b) for
   c) have       d) none
15.   Reading a book __ very rewarding.
   a) Can be        b) is be
   c) were       d) had
16.   The proper way to get there involves taking a left ____ the end of the street.
   a) In b) at c) on   d) up
17.   Running through the woods, the red fox ____ crooked ear dashed through a pile of leaves.
   a) With a       b) for
   c) upon       d) but
18.   A girl fell into the river but fortunately someone ____ rescue her.
   a) was able to b) were able to
   c) could able to   d) able
19.   I am really hungry, I ____ eat a horse.
   a) Would       b) could
   c) can       d) should
20.   The weather is nice now but it ____change later.
   a) May       b) can
   c) could       d) might be
KEY
1. A; 2. A; 3. A; 4. B; 5. A; 6. C; 7. B; 8. B; 9. A; 10. A; 11. B; 12. B; 13. C; 14. B; 15. A; 16. B; 17. A; 18. A; 19. B; 20. A