General English Questions and Answers for Competitive Exam

Rajesh Bhatia7 months ago 528.2K Views Join Examsbookapp store google play
General English Questions

As we know English has become a worldwide language. Apart from this, English is required to crack the Bank exam, UPSC exam, SSC exam, etc., even if it is a CBT-written examination or interview. Therefore, English language/General English is added as a subject/section in the Government exam. The objective of the General English subject is to check the basic understanding of the candidate, correct grammar usage of the English language, vocabulary usage, and writing ability in the competitive exam.

General English Questions and Answers

Here, I am providing General English Questions and Answers for Competitive Exams, which are frequently asked in reputed competitive exams. In this blog, you can get English language questions on various English topics such as Tenses, Verbs, Propositions, Common errors, Word correction, Sentence Completion, Synonyms and Antonyms, Passive Voice, Prefixes and suffixes,*, etc. So, candidates must solve Important General English Questions given here for their best practice.

Choose any General English 2023 Topic for the Preparation of English Questions:  

  1. Common Errors in Tense Grammar for the SSC Exam 
  2. Spell Check Questions
  3. Word Correction Questions
  4. Sentence Completion Questions
  5. Synonyms multiple-choice questions
  6. Uses of "Helping Verbs" for General English
  7. Edubirdie
  8. List of synonyms words A to Z for SSC
  9. General English-SSC Sample questions
  10. Idioms general English series#21
  11. Idioms and Phrases English Questions
  12. Plural-related Questions
  13. Participles Related Questions
  14. Prefix form related Questions and Answers
  15. Active and Passive Voice Questions
  16. Direct Indirect Questions and Answers

English Questions

Q :  

Banks should be left free to set their lending rates, in ______ with their cost of funds and market conditions, apart from borrower profile.

(A) lending

(B) meeting

(C) settling

(D) accordance


Correct Answer : D
Explanation :

The presence of the prepositions ‘in’ and ‘with’ before and after the blank respectively indicates that

the correct phrase to be used here is ‘in accordance with’ which means ‘in a way that agrees with or follows something’.

‘Accordance’ makes the sentence correct both grammatically and contextually.


Q :  

Single-use plastic refers to the entire class of items that are used once and then _____ of.

(A) thought

(B) excluded

(C) abandoned

(D) disposed


Correct Answer : D
Explanation :

The presence of the preposition ‘of’ after the blank eliminates options B, C and E.

Option A is contextually incorrect.‘Disposed of’ makes the sentence correct both grammatically and contextually.


Q :  

The police commissioner condemned the _________ murder and vowed to apprehend the wrongdoers within a fortnight.

(A) grisly

(B) gruesome

(C) ghastly

(D) All of the above


Correct Answer : D
Explanation :

All of the given words mean the same thing: ‘causing horror/ extremely shocking/ causing great horror or fear/ terror’.

All of them fit perfectly in the given blank both contextually and grammatically.


Q :  

The rotten smell was so _________ that she became unconscious then and there and had to be hospitalized.

(A) revolting

(B) gratifying

(C) captivating

(D) unappealing


Correct Answer : A
Explanation :

Rotten smell is never pleasant. Besides, ‘she’ became unconscious smelling it. So, the smell was not pleasing for sure.

The words ‘gratifying’ and ‘captivating’ are synonymous with ‘pleasing’. Hence, these words can be eliminated.

“Unappealing” is not a very strong word and consequently won’t fit here.

The context demands a very strong word as ‘she’ became ‘unconscious’ smelling the rotten odour.

Only “revolting” fits the blank appropriately both contextually and grammatically. “Revolting” means causing intense disgust; disgusting


Q :  

Having ______ in both government and private schools, Palak is the most suitable person to take over as the principal of the school.

(A) works

(B) working

(C) worked

(D) was working


Correct Answer : C
Explanation :

In the past tense, we use the second form of the verb (V2).

In the above sentence, Palak has already worked in different schools, after that

decision is made.

Thus, we will use past these to complete the sentence.

The complete sentence is- Having worked in both government and private schools,

Palak is the most suitable person to take over as the principal of the school.

Q :  

The ________ apparition stalked Reshma for days and ultimately threw her off the cliff.

(A) vindictive

(B) benevolent

(C) magnanimous

(D) callous


Correct Answer : A
Explanation :

The apparition (=ghost) that stalked Reshma for days, ultimately threw her off the cliff.

So, ‘benevolent’ and magnanimous’ won’t fit the blank as these are positive words.“Benevolent” means well-meaning and kindly

“Magnanimous” means generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person.

“Callous” means indifferent/ showing or having an insensitive disregard. It does not make any sense in the given context, and hence, can be eliminated

Only ‘vindictive’ fits the blank appropriately.“Vindictive” means having or showing a strong or unreasoning desire for revenge/ revengeful


Q :  

A heavy storm was forecast _____ the weather was clear.

(A) but

(B) because

(C) unless

(D) and


Correct Answer : A
Explanation :

• The conjunction “but” will be applied in this sentence.

• When linking things that share the same grammatical type of coordinating conjunction, we employ the word “but.”

• The conjunction “but” joins concepts that contradict.

Example: I love fruits but I am allergic to dragonfruit.

They’ve bought a house in Mumbai but they still haven’t sold their house in Delhi.

• As we can see, the sentence is linking two phrases that are in contrast, thus,

the conjunction “but” is appropriate for this sentence.

• Therefore, the complete sentence is: A heavy storm was forecast but the weather was clear


Q :  

You _____ be mad if you think I’m going to lend you any more money.

(A) might

(B) should

(C) ought to

(D) must


Correct Answer : D
Explanation :

Let’s look at how the given modal verbs are used:

• Ought to – When there is a strong sense of moral duty, advice, or indication of correc action.

Example: You ought to serve your motherland.

• Must- “Must” is a modal verb most commonly used to express certainty. It can also

be used to express necessity or strong recommendation, although native speakers prefer the more flexible form “have to.”.

Example: You must follow the instructions.

• Should- used to show obligation, duty, or correctness.

Example: One should obey one’s parents.

• Might- We use might most often to refer to weak possibility.

Example: I might go to Japan for a month to study Japanese.

• The sentence is expressing some kind of certainty. So ‘Must’ is used here.

The correct sentence is: You must be mad if you think I’m going to lend you any more money.


Q :  

If he had gone to Agra, he _____ the Taj Mahal.

(A) have been seen

(B) saw

(C) had been seen

(D) would have seen


Correct Answer : D
Explanation :

• The correct tense to be applied in this sentence is “would have seen”

• The third conditional form of the sentence is used to discuss a hypothetical previous circumstance and its potential outcome.

• The past perfect tense of the “if-clause” in this sentence (had gone) denotes that the situation did not actually occur.

• The conditional perfect tense (would have seen), which denotes a hypothetical outcome in the past if the fictitious circumstance had occurred, is thus necessary for

the main phrase.

Example: I would have received a better grade on the exam if/ had studied harder.

• The speaker is imagining a scenario in which they didn’t put enough effort into their studies, which led to a poorer grade.

• Therefore, the complete sentence is: If he had gone to Agra, he would have seen the Taj Mahal.


Q :  

The boy ____ came to see me this morning had come from Agra.

(A) which

(B) who

(C) that

(D) whom


Correct Answer : B
Explanation :

• As we can see that this is a case of a relative pronoun we need to choose the pronoun wisely.

• As there is a verb just after the blank space we need to fill it with the subjective form.

• And for the person we use who and option 2 contains the pronoun ‘who’ and this will be the answer.

The correct sentence will be- The boy who came to see me this morning had come from Agra.


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    About author

    Rajesh Bhatia

    A Writer, Teacher and GK Expert. I am an M.A. & M.Ed. in English Literature and Political Science. I am highly keen and passionate about reading Indian History. Also, I like to mentor students about how to prepare for a competitive examination. Share your concerns with me by comment box. Also, you can ask anything at linkedin.com/in/rajesh-bhatia-7395a015b/.

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