SBI Clerk English Preparation Guide, Know the Best Strategy

SBI Clerk English Preparation

SBI Clerk English Preparation Guide: The SBI Clerk Prelims will soon be underway. Many candidates find preparing for the English language section difficult. This can be because unlike numerical ability or reasoning ability, English does not have a fixed syllabus. To help you structure your preparation for this otherwise vast subject, here’s a detailed preparation strategy. In this article, we will be looking at the following:
– Exam pattern
– Important topics for the English language
– Preparation tips

SBI Clerk Prelims Exam Pattern

It is necessary to understand the question and duration distribution of the paper so you can plan your preparation similarly. The English section consists of 30 questions for 30 marks and is of a 20 minute duration.

Serial No.	Section	No. of Question	Total Marks	Duration
1	English Language	30	30	20 minutes
2	Numerical Ability	35	35	20 minutes
3	Reasoning	35	35	20 minutes
	Total	100	100	60 minutes

Having an effective question selection strategy becomes of utmost importance with the time constraints. Making the most of these 20 minutes and attempting the maximum possible number of questions with a good accuracy factor is what will decide your fate in the examination.

And to do this, the only thing required is a thorough preparation, which means:

• Clarity of concepts: develop a stronghold over your basics
• Knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses: space out your mock attempts evenly throughout your preparation and devote a good amount of time analyzing your attempts.
• Build your question selection and attempt strategy.

SBI Clerk 2023 Syllabus for English Language

Let us first take a look at the detailed syllabus for the English language in SBI Clerk 2023 prelims. Following are some important topics:

• Vocabulary – Antonyms and Synonyms
• Sentence Completion
• Basic English Grammar
• Tenses, Articles, Prepositions, Subject-Verb Agreement, Parts of Speech etc.
• Reading Comprehension
• Error Spotting
• Cloze Test
• Sentence Rearrangement
• Para Jumbles
• Phrases and Idioms
• Fill in the Blanks

SBI Clerk Mains Syllabus 2023 – General English

Following is the List of Topics for General on which questions will be asked in the SBI Clerk Main Exam. Almost all the topics are the same as the prelims paper. It’s just that the difficulty level of the questions to be asked in the Main Exam would be higher –

Topic Name	Topic Name
Error Detection	Connectors
Fill in the blanks (Double/Multiple/Sentence)	Cloze Test (New Pattern)
Inference	Odd man Out
Phrase Replacement	Phrasal Verb Related
Para Jumbles	Reading comprehension
Paragraph Conclusion	Sentence Completion
Word usage/ Vocabulary Based Questions	Antonyms and Synonyms

As we mentioned in the previous section, SBI Clerk prelims will have sectional time limits for each section. Thus, it’s important to understand that it’s imperative to make good use of the 20 minutes that you will be spending on this section to achieve a good score. In the following section, we will be discussing the preparation strategy for the English language section.

SBI Clerk 2023 Preparation Strategy for English

Here are the recommended guidelines for your SBI Clerk Preparation:

Grammar forms the basis of important question types such as sentence re-arrangement, idioms & phrases, error spotting, sentence correction etc. So build on your grammar by referring to helpful books such as Wren & Martin. You can also refer to custom-made e-books such as 100 important idioms. These help you with your preparation as they cover exactly what is covered in the exam.

Reading Tips

Use the following tips as a guide to prepare for or to attempt RC questions.

Speed

A good reading speed gives you an edge to score well in the exam, so make sure while preparing for RC you also work on your reading speed. Read how to increase your reading speed here.

Avoid Assumptions

Strictly stick to what is given in the passage and assume NOTHING else; even if it is true in day-to-day situations. Do NOT make any assumptions whatsoever.

Accuracy

It is essential to balance speed and accuracy to score well in any competitive exam. The best way in which you can gauge this is via practising multiple mock tests. Mock tests not only condition you for the real-time exam but also help you analyze your areas of strength and weaknesses.

Awareness of Topics

RC passages can range from a variety of topics such as Philosophy, Psychology, Economics, Politics or even Science. We never know what might come our way. Hence, we must establish a level of comfort with all such genres by reading from multiple sources. Newspapers, especially the editorials and the weekend specials are a good place to start.

Confusion between Options

A major problem that all candidates face while solving RC questions is that they get confused between 2 options. This happens because we read to understand only what the statements say; whereas the RC questions demand our understanding of the writer’s/author’s perspective as well (this is known as reading between the lines).

Vocabulary

Just as for grammar, vocabulary is tested both directly and indirectly in the exam. There might be difficult words in the passage that may make it difficult for you to understand what is being talked about (indirect testing of vocabulary). There may be direct questions on synonyms, and antonyms. Hence, reading from a variety of sources is a must. Make sure you add at least 10 new words every day. You can also attempt these FREE vocabulary quizzes HERE.

SBI Clerk English Preparation – Conclusion

Remember the mantra for a successful preparation strategy:

Build Concepts –> Practice Daily –> Revise Weekly –> Give 1 mock test/week –> Spend time on analysis –> Strengthen your strengths and improve on your weakness  –> REPEAT

SBI Clerk English Preparation – Frequently Asked Questions

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