How to Prepare for English Section for SSC CGL | SSC CGL Tier 1 and Tier 2 Mock Test Series 2026 (New Pattern) PDF Download

By looking at the exam pattern for the English Section of the SSC CGL Exam, one can figure out that you will have to solve a good number of questions within a limited amount of time. Hence, you must prepare very well for this section in order to ace the SSC CGL Exam. You can follow the following steps to score well in this section:

Step 0: Understand the English Section Syllabus for SSC CGL

The English section is generally the most scoring section in SSC CGL Examination. This section generally focuses on the fundamentals of the English language. The questions are framed in such a manner that they test your basic understanding. The list of important topics is as follows:

• Reading Comprehension
• Cloze Test
• Spellings
• Phrases and Idioms
• One Word Substitution
• Sentence Correction
• Error Spotting
• Fill in the Blanks
• Active/Passive
• Narrations

Step 1: Improve your vocabulary

• You should focus on improving your vocabulary as it will help you in fetching marks in topics like antonyms and synonyms, cloze tests, etc. 
• To improve vocabulary, you should read the newspaper on a daily basis and make notes of the words that you do not know the meaning of. 
• You should note down the meaning of those words, their synonyms, antonyms, etc, and keep revising them.

Step 2: Brush up on your English Grammar

• Get a grip on English grammar: A good command of English Grammar will help you score well in the exam. This will help you solve questions from topics like error detection, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, cloze test, etc. 
• Brush up on grammar: You should brush up on the basic grammar rules related to topics such as Parts of Speech, Voice, Tenses, Narration, Subject Verb Agreement, etc. 

• Understand the concepts: You should try and understand the concepts behind all the rules of English grammar.

Step 3: Work on improving your Reading Skills

• Understand the idea behind the statement: To do this, you should develop reading skills and try to read from various resources and understand the logic behind each statement. 
• Increase your reading speed: This will also help you improve your reading speed, which will again help you in solving comprehension-related questions.
• Enhance vocabulary: It will also enhance your vocabulary when you read various things.

• Reading newspapers, articles, blogs, and novels are some of the things you can do.

Step 4: Solve Past Year Papers

You should solve the previous year's questions and understand the questions as well as the answers. For the questions that you are not able to solve, you should note down those questions and make notes on those questions and the topics to which those questions are related.

Step 5: Practise as many Mock Tests as you can

• You should attempt as many mock tests as possible to make a strategy on how to attempt the paper to score the maximum within the given time. Attempting mock tests will be good practice for you. You should also analyse the mock tests and note down their mistakes and rectify them.

Additionally, mock tests will:

• Boost confidence: Practising questions makes you confident and gives a real picture of how much syllabus you have covered precisely. 
• Time Management: In the SSC CGL exam, managing time is the most vital task, and you can not overlook it. Practising mock tests makes your time management skills stronger. You can practise mock tests on the EduRev platform by clicking here.
• Makes you Proactive: Mock tests come to the rescue when an exam is on the verge. Mock tests give you a complete feel for the real exam and prepare you accordingly. Mock questions are the most effective way to prepare for an exam.

Step 6: Revise, Revise and Revise!

• You should keep revising all the topics and be thorough with them. 
• If you are worried about how to execute this preparation strategy in a time span of two months, then you need not worry. 
• We at EduRev have compiled a course for the SSC CGL exam. Under the guidance of our expert faculty, you will be able to easily sail through this exam.