Sentence organisation — SSC CGL English Notes

Concepts and rules

In this question type, the sentences of a short paragraph are jumbled and labelled P, Q, R, S (sometimes A to E). Often the first sentence (S1) and the last (S6) are fixed, and you arrange the middle 4. You choose the option that gives a logical, connected paragraph.

Opening sentence: introduces a person, thing or topic in full (a name, 'a/an' + noun, a general statement). It does not begin with a pronoun (he, it, they, this), 'the' for something not yet mentioned, or a connector (however, therefore, also, then).

Pronoun pairs: a sentence with 'he', 'she', 'it', 'they', 'his', 'them' must come after the sentence that names that person or thing.

Article pairs: 'a bird' introduces; 'the bird' refers back. A sentence with 'the bird' comes after the one with 'a bird'.

Demonstrative pairs: 'this', 'these', 'such', 'this change', 'this cycle' point to an idea in the sentence just before. Find that idea and place the sentence right after it.

Connector pairs: 'However' follows the idea it contrasts with; 'Therefore', 'As a result', 'So' follow their cause; 'Moreover', 'Also' follow a similar point; 'For example' follows the general claim.

Time and process order: first → then → after that → finally; years and ages in increasing order; 'once', 'for a long time' before 'later', 'today', 'now'.

Logical patterns: general → specific → example; problem → cause → solution → result; claim → evidence → conclusion. The closing sentence often sums up or gives the final result ('Today…', 'Thus…', 'Now…').

Method and shortcuts

Step 1: Read all sentences once and find the topic. If S1 is given, ask which sentence continues it most directly.

Step 2: If nothing is fixed, find the opening sentence using the rule: no pronoun, no back-pointing 'the' or 'this', no connector.

Step 3: Mark mandatory pairs (X must come right before Y) using pronouns, articles, 'this/these' and connectors. 2 such pairs usually decide the answer.

Step 4: Use the options. Check only the options that start with your opening sentence and contain your pairs. Then read the full paragraph in that order once.

Shortcut: a sentence beginning with 'However', 'This', 'These', 'Such' or a pronoun can never be first. It fails only when such a word refers forward or is part of a fixed phrase ('This year, the monsoon arrived early').

Example 1: Time order in a life story

Question: Arrange: P: She saved a little from her wages every month. Q: Lakshmi worked as a cook in 3 houses in Pune. R: After 5 years, she had enough to open a small tiffin service. S: Today the service feeds 200 office workers daily.

Solution: Q names Lakshmi and introduces her, so it opens. P uses 'She' and 'her wages', so it follows Q. R ('After 5 years… enough') is the result of saving, and S ('Today', 'the service') refers to the tiffin service in R, so it ends.

Answer: QPRS.

Example 2: Article and pronoun pairs

Question: Arrange: P: The bird had a broken wing and could not fly. Q: He took it to a vet, who set the wing in a splint. R: While walking to school, Aman found a bird lying under a tree. S: Within a month, it was flying again.

Solution: R names Aman and introduces 'a bird', so it opens. P says 'The bird', so it follows R. Q needs 'He' (Aman) and the broken wing from P. S is the outcome, so it closes.

Answer: RPQS.

Example 3: Connectors fix the chain

Question: Arrange: P: However, it also produces waste that stays radioactive for thousands of years. Q: Nuclear power produces electricity without releasing carbon dioxide. R: This makes it attractive to countries trying to cut emissions. S: Storing this waste safely is therefore a major challenge.

Solution: Q is the only sentence without a back-pointer, so it opens. R ('This makes it attractive') explains the advantage in Q. P ('However') turns to the drawback. S ('this waste', 'therefore') needs the waste mentioned in P.

Answer: QRPS.

Example 4: S1 and S6 fixed

Question: S1: Every year, thousands of pilgrims climb the hill to the old temple. P: Plastic bottles and wrappers began to pile up along the path. Q: The village council then banned plastic on the hill and set up water points every kilometre. R: For a long time, the path stayed clean because pilgrims carried food in leaf packets. S: As packaged snacks became popular, this changed. S6: Now the path is cleaner than it has been in decades. (a) SRPQ (b) RPSQ (c) PRSQ (d) RSPQ

Solution: R ('For a long time… clean') sets the earlier state. S ('this changed') must come right after R, because 'this' is the clean path. P describes the change (plastic piling up). Q ('then banned plastic') is the response, which leads to S6 ('Now… cleaner').

Check the others: (a) puts 'this changed' before the state that changed; (b) puts the plastic before 'this changed'; (c) starts with plastic before the clean period.

Answer: (d) RSPQ.

Example 5: Problem, response and result

Question: Arrange: A: As a result, many of them fell into the hands of moneylenders who charged very high interest. B: Some years ago, most poor women in the district could not get loans from banks because they had no property to offer as security. C: To break this cycle, a local NGO organised the women into self-help groups of 10 to 20 members. D: Each group saved a small amount every week and lent from this pool to members in need. E: Once the groups had a record of regular repayment, banks too began to lend to them. (a) BACDE (b) BCADE (c) ABCDE (d) BADCE

Solution: B opens: it sets the time ('Some years ago') and names the women. A ('As a result', 'them') is the effect of B. C ('this cycle') refers to the debt trap in A, so C follows A. D ('Each group') needs the groups formed in C.

E ('Once the groups had a record of regular repayment') is the final result and closes. (b) puts 'this cycle' before the cycle is described; (d) puts 'Each group' before any group exists; (c) starts with 'As a result', which cannot open.

Answer: (a) BACDE.

Example 6: General to specific with a turn

Question: Arrange: P: These include tracking the movement of goods, matching invoices and flagging suspected fraud. Q: Artificial intelligence is changing the way tax departments work. R: Yet officials stress that the final decision in every case is still taken by a human officer. S: Software can now perform many tasks that once took clerks weeks. T: This, they argue, keeps the system both fast and fair. (a) QPSRT (b) SQPTR (c) QSPRT (d) QSRTP

Solution: Q is the general topic and opens. S narrows it ('many tasks'). P ('These include') lists those tasks, so it follows S. R ('Yet officials stress') turns to the human role. T ('they argue') needs 'officials' from R, and 'This' is the human final decision.

Check the others: (a) puts 'These include' before the tasks are mentioned; (b) starts with S, which needs the topic first; (d) leaves P stranded at the end, after the officials, where 'These' has nothing to point to.

Answer: (c) QSPRT.

Common mistakes

Starting with a sentence that has a pronoun or 'However' because it sounds dramatic: such sentences depend on something before them.

Placing 'this/these' after the wrong sentence: always ask 'this what?' and put the sentence right after the answer.

Ignoring the fixed S1 and S6: the sentence right after S1 must link to it, and the sentence before S6 must lead into it.

Arranging by your own idea of events instead of the words: rely on pronouns, articles and connectors, which are objective clues.

Not reading the final order: an option may satisfy 1 pair and break another; read the full paragraph once.

Practice questions

Q1. P: Then add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Q: First, heat 2 spoons of oil in a pan. R: Finally, pour in water, cover and cook for 15 minutes. S: When the oil is hot, add chopped onions and fry till golden. (a) QSPR (b) QPSR (c) SQPR (d) QSRP

Q2. S1: Ramesh had always wanted to see the sea. P: When the train finally reached Chennai, he hurried to the beach. Q: So he saved money for a year and bought a ticket. R: Standing on the sand, he watched the waves for hours. S: But he lived in a small village far from the coast. S6: It was the happiest day of his life. (a) QSPR (b) SQPR (c) SPQR (d) SQRP

Q3. P: This is why doctors advise washing hands with soap before every meal. Q: Many common illnesses spread through germs that sit on our hands. R: These germs enter the body when we eat without washing. S: In fact, health workers say that this single habit could prevent a large share of stomach infections. (a) RQPS (b) QPRS (c) QRSP (d) QRPS

Answers

Q1. (a) Process words decide it: First (Q) → When the oil is hot (S) → Then (P) → Finally (R).

Q2. (b) S ('But he lived far from the coast') gives the obstacle to the wish in S1; Q ('So he saved') responds to it; P (the train reaches Chennai) and R (on the sand) follow in time, leading to S6.

Q3. (d) Q opens; R ('These germs') follows it; P ('This is why… before every meal') draws the advice from R; S ('this single habit') refers to the hand-washing in P, so it must come after P.

Quick revision

Opener: names the topic; no pronoun, no 'this/such', no 'However/Therefore/Also'.

Pairs: noun → pronoun; a → the; idea → this/these; cause → therefore; point → however.

Order words: first, then, finally; once/for a long time → today/now.

Use 2 sure pairs to cut options, then read the final paragraph once.

Concepts and rules

SSC asks 4 kinds of transformation: active → passive, passive → active, direct → indirect, indirect → direct. The question says which; the answer must keep the same meaning and the same time reference.

Voice in one line: the object of the active verb becomes the subject; the verb becomes 'be' (in the same tense as the active verb) + V3; the old subject goes after 'by' or is dropped if it is vague (someone, people, they).

Reported speech in one line: if the reporting verb is past (said, told, asked), the reported tense moves 1 step back; pronouns change to fit the speaker and listener; near words (now, today, this, here) become distant words (then, that day, that, there).

Questions in reported speech become statements: 'asked + if/whether' for yes/no questions and 'asked + wh-word + subject + verb' for wh-questions, with no question mark.

Orders and requests: 'told/ordered/requested/advised + person + to + V1'; negative: 'not to + V1'. In the passive, commands use 'Let + object + be + V3' or 'You are requested/ordered to…'.

Typical wrong options: the tense not changed (or changed in the passive), the wrong pronoun, question word order kept in reported speech, 'said me' or 'told that', 'today' not changed, 'by' missing, or 'being' added where it does not belong.

The 2 transformations treat tense oppositely: in voice change the tense must stay the same; in reported speech after a past reporting verb the tense must move back.

Method and shortcuts

Step 1: Identify the task (which voice or which speech is asked) and the tense of the given verb.

Step 2: Check tense in every option. For voice, the tense must match the original; for reported speech after a past verb, it must be backshifted. This alone usually removes 2 options.

Step 3: Check pronouns (who is 'I' and who is 'you' now?) and word order (no question order in reported speech).

Step 4: Check the small words: 'by' and prepositions in passives; told/asked/requested and 'to' in reported speech; time and place words.

Shortcut: if 2 options are identical except for 1 word, the answer is almost always 1 of those 2; decide on that word. It fails when both of the pair contain the same other error, so still read your final choice in full.

Example 1: Simple statement into indirect speech

Question: Change into indirect speech: The guard said, "I am on duty today."

Solution: 'Said' is past, so 'am' moves back to 'was'. 'I' is the guard, so 'he'. 'Today' becomes 'that day'. 'Said' needs no object, and 'that' joins the clauses.

Answer: The guard said that he was on duty that day.

Example 2: Simple present into passive

Question: Change into passive voice: The farmers grow sugarcane in this area.

Solution: Object 'sugarcane' becomes the subject. 'Grow' is simple present, so 'is + V3' (sugarcane is uncountable, so singular 'is'). 'The farmers' goes after 'by'.

Answer: Sugarcane is grown by the farmers in this area.

Example 3: Wh-question into passive

Question: Change into passive voice: Who wrote this letter?

Solution: 'Who' is the subject, so in the passive it becomes 'By whom'. The question stays a question, so the auxiliary comes before the subject: 'was this letter written'. 'Wrote' is simple past, so 'was + V3'.

Answer: By whom was this letter written?

Example 4: Indirect speech: pronouns and time words

Question: Select the correct indirect form: Priya said to me, "I will meet you tomorrow." (a) Priya told me that she will meet me tomorrow. (b) Priya told me that she would meet me the next day. (c) Priya told me that I would meet her the next day. (d) Priya said me that she would meet me the next day.

Solution: 'Said to' becomes 'told', so (d) 'said me' fails. 'Will' moves back to 'would', and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day', so (a) fails. 'I' is Priya (she) and 'you' is me, so (c) swaps the people. Only (b) passes every check.

Answer: (b).

Example 5: Present perfect negative into passive

Question: Select the correct passive form: The committee has not yet approved the new budget. (a) The new budget was not yet approved by the committee. (b) The new budget has not yet approved by the committee. (c) The new budget has not yet been approved by the committee. (d) The new budget had not yet been approved by the committee.

Solution: Present perfect active (has approved) → present perfect passive (has been approved). (a) changes to the simple past and (d) to the past perfect, so the tense is wrong. (b) drops 'been', which makes it active in form and says the budget approved something.

Answer: (c).

Example 6: Yes/no question into indirect speech

Question: Select the correct indirect form: The officer said to the clerk, "Have you sent the files to the head office?" (a) The officer asked the clerk had he sent the files to the head office. (b) The officer asked the clerk if he has sent the files to the head office. (c) The officer told the clerk whether he had sent the files to the head office. (d) The officer asked the clerk if he had sent the files to the head office.

Solution: A yes/no question needs 'asked + if/whether', so (c) with 'told' fails. The question order 'had he sent' must become statement order 'he had sent', so (a) fails. 'Have sent' (present perfect) moves back to 'had sent', so (b) fails.

Answer: (d).

Common mistakes

Changing the tense in a voice change: 'Somebody has stolen my bicycle' → 'My bicycle was stolen' is wrong; keep present perfect: 'has been stolen'.

Not changing the tense in reported speech after 'said': 'He said that he is tired' is wrong in SSC answers; write 'was'. Only universal truths and habitual facts keep the present tense.

'Said me' and 'told that': 'said' takes no person directly ('said to me'), and 'told' always needs a person ('told me that').

Keeping question order in reported speech: 'He asked where was I going' is wrong; write 'where I was going'.

Practice questions

Q1. Select the correct passive form: Somebody has stolen my bicycle. (a) My bicycle is stolen. (b) My bicycle has been stolen. (c) My bicycle had been stolen by somebody. (d) My bicycle was stolen.

Q2. Select the correct indirect form: She said, "I am tired." (a) She said that she is tired. (b) She said that I was tired. (c) She said that she was tired. (d) She told that she was tired.

Q3. Select the correct active form: The match was won by our team. (a) Our team wins the match. (b) Our team had won the match. (c) Our team has won the match. (d) Our team won the match.

Answers

Q1. (b) Present perfect stays present perfect: has been + V3; 'by somebody' is dropped because the doer is unknown. The others change the tense.

Q2. (c) 'Am' → 'was' and 'I' → 'she'. (a) keeps 'is', (b) keeps 'I', and (d) uses 'told' without a person.

Q3. (d) 'Was won' is simple past passive, so the active is simple past 'won'. The other options change the tense.

Quick revision

Voice: same tense, object ↔ subject, be + V3, 'by' + doer (drop vague doers).

Speech after past reporting verb: tense back 1 step, pronouns adjusted, now/today/this/here → then/that day/that/there.

Questions → asked if/whether or wh-word + statement order; commands → told/ordered/requested + to.

Check options in order: tense → pronoun → word order → small words.

Concepts and rules

Only a transitive verb (one with an object) has a passive. 'The baby slept' has no object, so it has no passive. The active object becomes the passive subject, and object pronouns change: me → I, us → we, him → he, her → she, them → they; and in reverse when the subject goes after 'by'.

Present tenses: simple present 'writes' → 'is/am/are written'; present continuous 'is writing' → 'is/am/are being written'; present perfect 'has written' → 'has/have been written'.

Past tenses: simple past 'wrote' → 'was/were written'; past continuous 'was writing' → 'was/were being written'; past perfect 'had written' → 'had been written'.

Future tenses: simple future 'will write' → 'will be written'; future perfect 'will have written' → 'will have been written'. Future continuous and all 3 perfect continuous tenses are not normally used in the passive, so SSC treats them as having no passive.

Modals: 'can/could/may/might/must/should/ought to/have to + V1' → 'modal + be + V3' (must be done, ought to be done). Past modals: 'should have + V3' → 'should have been + V3'.

Commands: 'Shut the door' → 'Let the door be shut'. Negative: 'Do not touch the wires' → 'Let the wires not be touched' (or 'Let not the wires be touched'). Requests and advice: 'Please help me' → 'You are requested to help me'; 'Work hard' (advice) → 'You are advised to work hard'.

Questions: yes/no: 'Did he write the letter?' → 'Was the letter written by him?' Wh-: 'Who broke it?' → 'By whom was it broken?'; 'Whom did you invite?' → 'Who was invited by you?'; 'Why did she call him?' → 'Why was he called by her?'

2 objects: 'The principal gave Neha a prize' → 'Neha was given a prize by the principal' or 'A prize was given to Neha by the principal'. Prepositional verbs keep their preposition: 'They laughed at him' → 'He was laughed at'.

Some passives take a preposition other than 'by': known to, pleased with, surprised at, interested in, filled with, covered with. 'Make, see, hear + object + V1' gain 'to' in the passive: 'They made him wait' → 'He was made to wait'.

Drop the agent when it is vague or obvious: 'Someone has stolen my purse' → 'My purse has been stolen'. 'People say that he is honest' → 'It is said that he is honest' or 'He is said to be honest'.

Method and shortcuts

Step 1: Find the verb and name its tense or modal. Find the object; if there is none, there is no passive.

Step 2: Make the object the subject, and make 'be' agree with it in number (the files were, the file was).

Step 3: Write 'be' in the original tense, using the table (being for continuous, been for perfect), then V3.

Step 4: Add 'by' + the old subject in object form, or drop a vague agent. Keep every other word (time, place, preposition) in place.

Shortcut for passive → active: read the form of 'be' to get the tense (is being = present continuous, had been = past perfect), and put the 'by' noun back as subject in subject form.

Example 1: Present continuous

Question: Change into passive voice: The workers are repairing the road.

Solution: Present continuous (are repairing) → 'is being + V3'. 'The road' is singular, so 'is'. Add 'by the workers'.

Answer: The road is being repaired by the workers.

Example 2: Modal with a vague agent

Question: Change into passive voice: You must submit the form before Friday.

Solution: Modal 'must + V1' → 'must be + V3'. 'You' here is general (anyone filling the form), so the agent is dropped. 'Before Friday' stays.

Answer: The form must be submitted before Friday.

Example 3: 2 objects

Question: Change into passive voice in 2 ways: The principal gave Neha a prize.

Solution: 'Gave' has 2 objects: Neha (person) and a prize (thing). Either can become the subject; when the thing is the subject, the person takes 'to'. 'Gave' is simple past, so 'was given'.

Answer: Neha was given a prize by the principal. / A prize was given to Neha by the principal.

Example 4: Negative command

Question: Select the correct passive form: Do not touch the wires. (a) The wires should not touched. (b) Let not the wires touched. (c) Let the wires not be touched. (d) The wires are not being touched.

Solution: A command becomes 'Let + object + be + V3', with 'not' before 'be'. (a) lacks 'be', and (b) also lacks 'be'. (d) turns the command into a statement about what is happening now.

Answer: (c).

Example 5: Wh-question in present perfect

Question: Select the correct passive form: Who has broken the window? (a) By whom has the window been broken? (b) By whom the window has been broken? (c) By whom was the window broken? (d) By whom has the window broken?

Solution: 'Who' → 'By whom'. Present perfect → 'has been + V3'. A question keeps question order: auxiliary 'has' before the subject 'the window'.

(b) uses statement order in a question, (c) changes the tense to simple past, and (d) drops 'been', making it active in form.

Answer: (a).

Example 6: 'Make' + object + V1

Question: Select the correct passive form: The manager made the staff work late on Saturday. (a) The staff were made work late on Saturday by the manager. (b) The staff were made to work late on Saturday by the manager. (c) The staff were being made to work late on Saturday. (d) The staff had been made to work late on Saturday by the manager.

Solution: 'Made' is simple past, so 'were made'. In the active, 'make' takes the bare V1 (made the staff work), but in the passive 'to' is added: 'were made to work'. That rules out (a).

(c) changes the tense to past continuous and drops the agent; (d) changes it to past perfect. Only (b) keeps the simple past and adds 'to'.

Answer: (b).

Common mistakes

Forgetting 'being' or 'been': 'The road is repaired' is simple present, not present continuous; 'has repaired' without 'been' is still active.

Making 'be' agree with the old subject: 'The letters was written by him' is wrong; 'be' agrees with the new subject 'letters', so 'were'.

Dropping the preposition of a phrasal verb: 'He was laughed by everyone' is wrong; write 'He was laughed at by everyone'.

Using a subject pronoun after 'by': 'by he', 'by they' are wrong; write 'by him', 'by them'. In 'Whom did you see?' the passive starts 'Who was seen…', not 'Whom was seen'.

Trying to make a passive of an intransitive verb or a perfect-continuous tense: 'He has been sleeping' has no passive.

Practice questions

Q1. Select the correct passive form: She will have finished the report by noon. (a) The report will be finished by her by noon. (b) The report will have been finished by her by noon. (c) The report would have been finished by her by noon. (d) The report will have finished by her by noon.

Q2. Select the correct passive form: The crowd laughed at the joker. (a) The joker was laughed by the crowd. (b) The joker is laughed at by the crowd. (c) The joker was being laughed by the crowd. (d) The joker was laughed at by the crowd.

Q3. Select the correct passive form: Please open the window. (a) You are requested to open the window. (b) Let the window opened. (c) The window is opened. (d) You are ordered to open the window.

Answers

Q1. (b) Future perfect → 'will have been + V3'. (a) is simple future, (c) changes 'will' to 'would', and (d) lacks 'been'.

Q2. (d) Simple past → 'was + V3', and the prepositional verb keeps 'at'. (a) and (c) drop 'at'; (b) changes the tense.

Q3. (a) 'Please' marks a request, so 'You are requested to'. (d) turns the request into an order, (b) lacks 'be', and (c) is a statement, not a request.

Quick revision

is/am/are + V3; is being + V3; has been + V3; was + V3; was being + V3; had been + V3; will be + V3; will have been + V3.

Modal + be + V3; modal + have been + V3 for past modals.

Command → Let + object + be + V3; request → You are requested to; advice → You are advised to.

Who → By whom; keep 'at/of/to' of phrasal verbs; make/see/hear gain 'to'; perfect continuous has no passive.

Concepts and rules

Direct speech gives the exact words in inverted commas; indirect speech reports their meaning. The reporting verb is outside the commas (said, said to); the reported speech is inside.

If the reporting verb is in the present or future (says, will say), the tense of the reported speech does not change: He says, "I am ready" → He says that he is ready.

If the reporting verb is past, move the tense back: am/is → was; are → were; do/does → did; is doing → was doing; has done → had done; did → had done; was doing → had been doing; will → would; can → could; may → might; shall → should; must → had to (or must).

No change even after a past reporting verb: universal truths and scientific facts ('The sun rises in the east'), habitual facts, and words that have no past form: would, could, should, might, ought to, used to. Past perfect stays past perfect.

Pronouns: first person (I, me, my, we) changes to match the speaker (the subject of the reporting verb); second person (you, your) changes to match the listener (the object of the reporting verb); third person (he, she, it, they) does not change.

Time and place: now → then; today → that day; tonight → that night; tomorrow → the next day; yesterday → the previous day; last night → the previous night; next week → the following week; ago → before; here → there; this → that; these → those; come → go (when the place changes).

Statements: 'said' → 'said'; 'said to + person' → 'told + person'; joined with 'that'. Questions: 'asked/enquired'; yes/no questions with 'if/whether'; wh-questions repeat the wh-word; both use statement word order and end with a full stop.

Commands and requests: 'ordered/commanded/told' (orders), 'requested' (with please), 'advised' (advice) + person + to + V1; negative 'not to + V1'. 'Let us' (proposal) → 'suggested/proposed that they (or we) should + V1'.

Exclamations and wishes: 'Alas!' → exclaimed with sorrow that; 'Hurrah!' → exclaimed with joy that; 'What a…!' / 'How…!' → exclaimed that it was a very…; 'May you live long!' → prayed/wished that he might live long; 'Good morning' → wished good morning.

Method and shortcuts

Step 1: Decide the sentence type inside the commas (statement, question, command/request, exclamation, wish) and pick the reporting verb.

Step 2: Choose the joining word: that (statement), if/whether (yes/no question), the wh-word (wh-question), to + V1 (command).

Step 3: Change pronouns by the speaker-listener rule, then backshift the tense if the reporting verb is past (checking the no-change cases).

Step 4: Change time and place words, remove inverted commas and the question or exclamation mark, and use statement word order.

Shortcut for indirect → direct: reverse each step: 'told me that she would' → said to me, "I will…"; 'asked if' → a yes/no question with question order and a question mark.

Example 1: Statement with 'today'

Question: Change into indirect speech: He said, "I am busy today."

Solution: Past reporting verb, so 'am' → 'was'. 'I' = he. 'Today' → 'that day'. Statement, so 'said that'.

Answer: He said that he was busy that day.

Example 2: Universal truth

Question: Change into indirect speech: The teacher said, "The earth goes round the sun."

Solution: A scientific fact stays in the simple present even after a past reporting verb, because it is still and always true.

Answer: The teacher said that the earth goes round the sun.

Example 3: Negative command

Question: Change into indirect speech: Mother said to me, "Don't go out in the rain."

Solution: A command takes 'told/ordered/advised + person + to + V1'; the negative becomes 'not to'. A mother's caution suits 'told' or 'advised'. Here 'you' is the listener, 'me', which is already in the reporting clause.

Answer: Mother told me not to go out in the rain.

Example 4: Wh-question

Question: Select the correct indirect form: Ravi said to Sita, "Where are you going?" (a) Ravi asked Sita where was she going. (b) Ravi said to Sita where she was going. (c) Ravi asked Sita where she is going. (d) Ravi asked Sita where she was going.

Solution: A question needs 'asked', so (b) fails. The wh-word stays, followed by statement order (she was), so (a) fails. 'Are going' moves back to 'was going', so (c) fails.

Answer: (d).

Example 5: Split quotation with 2 time words

Question: Select the correct indirect form: "I saw this film yesterday," said Arjun to me, "and I will see it again next week." (a) Arjun told me that he had seen that film the previous day and that he would see it again the following week. (b) Arjun told me that he saw this film yesterday and would see it again next week. (c) Arjun told me that he had seen that film the previous day and that he will see it again the following week. (d) Arjun told me that I had seen that film the previous day and that I would see it again the following week.

Solution: Both parts are statements by Arjun, so 'told me that… and that…'. Part 1: 'saw' → 'had seen', 'this' → 'that', 'yesterday' → 'the previous day'. Part 2: 'will' → 'would', 'next week' → 'the following week'. 'I' = Arjun = he throughout.

(b) leaves 'this', 'yesterday' and 'next week' unchanged; (c) keeps 'will'; (d) turns Arjun's 'I' into 'I' (the listener).

Answer: (a).

Example 6: Exclamation

Question: Select the correct indirect form: The old man said, "Alas! I have lost my only son." (a) The old man exclaimed with joy that he had lost his only son. (b) The old man said alas that he has lost his only son. (c) The old man exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost his only son. (d) The old man exclaimed with sorrow that he has lost his only son.

Solution: 'Alas!' expresses grief, so 'exclaimed with sorrow' replaces it; the word 'alas' itself is dropped, which removes (b). (a) gives the wrong emotion. 'Have lost' moves back to 'had lost', which removes (d). 'I/my' → 'he/his'.

Answer: (c).

Common mistakes

Keeping question order: 'She asked me what was my name' is wrong; write 'what my name was'.

Adding 'that' before a question or a command: 'He asked that where I lived' and 'He told me that to sit down' are wrong.

Backshifting a universal truth: 'He said that water boiled at 100 °C' should keep 'boils'.

Forgetting time words: 'tomorrow', 'yesterday', 'this' and 'here' left unchanged make an option wrong even if the tense is right.

Changing 'would', 'could', 'should', 'might' again: they have no further past form and stay as they are.

Practice questions

Q1. Select the correct indirect form: He said to me, "Can you lend me ₹500?" (a) He asked me if I could lend him ₹500. (b) He asked me if I can lend him ₹500. (c) He asked me could I lend him ₹500. (d) He told me if I could lend him ₹500.

Q2. Select the correct indirect form: The captain said to the players, "Let us practise for 2 more hours." (a) The captain told the players let us practise for 2 more hours. (b) The captain suggested to the players that we should practise for 2 more hours. (c) The captain suggested to the players that they should practise for 2 more hours. (d) The captain suggested the players that they should practise for 2 more hours.

Q3. Select the correct indirect form: She said, "I have finished my homework." (a) She said that she has finished her homework. (b) She said that she had finished her homework. (c) She said that I had finished my homework. (d) She told that she had finished her homework.

Answers

Q1. (a) Yes/no question → 'asked if'; 'can' → 'could'; 'you' → I (the listener), 'me' → him (the speaker); statement order. (b) keeps 'can', (c) keeps question order, (d) uses 'told' for a question.

Q2. (c) 'Let us' (a proposal) → 'suggested to + person + that they should + V1'. (a) keeps direct words, (b) keeps 'we', which would wrongly include the person reporting the sentence, and (d) drops 'to' after 'suggested'.

Q3. (b) 'Have finished' → 'had finished'; 'I/my' → 'she/her'. (a) keeps 'has', (c) keeps 'I/my', and (d) uses 'told' without a person.

Quick revision

Past reporting verb ⇒ backshift: is → was, has → had, did → had done, will → would, can → could; no change for truths and for would/could/should/might.

Pronouns: 1st person → speaker, 2nd person → listener, 3rd person unchanged.

today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day, now → then, this → that, here → there.

Question → asked + if/wh-word + statement order; command → told/ordered/requested + (not) to + V1; Alas → exclaimed with sorrow.

Concepts and rules

Here ONE sentence is cut into 4 or 5 parts labelled P, Q, R, S (sometimes the first part is given). You must find the order that makes a single grammatical, meaningful sentence. This is different from ordering whole sentences into a paragraph.

Basic English order is subject → verb → object/complement → place → time: 'My grandfather wrote a letter to the editor last week.' An introductory phrase or clause may come before the subject.

A part that begins with a verb (sat, has decided, is) needs a subject before it. A part that begins with 'who', 'which', 'whose' goes right after the noun it describes.

Completion links: a part ending in 'the', 'a', 'of', 'to', 'by' or an adjective must be followed by a noun phrase; 'decided' and 'want' are followed by 'to + V1'; a preposition phrase (over the river, near the station) follows the noun or verb it belongs to.

Fixed pairs keep their order: no sooner… than, hardly… when, not only… but also, either… or, if… (then) result. After an opening 'Hardly', 'No sooner', 'Never' or 'Not only', the auxiliary comes before the subject: 'Hardly had we reached…'.

Superlative phrases: 'one of the + superlative + plural noun + in/of…': 'one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world'. Adjectives come before the noun; 'in the world' comes after it.

A non-defining clause (with commas) goes right after its noun phrase and before the main verb: 'The library of our village, which was donated by a retired teacher, has over 5,000 books.'

Method and shortcuts

Step 1: Find the subject (a noun phrase with no verb) and the main verb part. If a first part is given, decide what it needs next.

Step 2: Make the sure links: relative clause after its noun, 'to' after decided, 'than' after 'no sooner', a noun after an article or preposition.

Step 3: Attach the leftover phrases (place, time, manner) where they make sense, usually at the end.

Step 4: Match your sure links against the options; usually 1 link removes 2 options and a second link decides. Read the winning sentence aloud in your head.

Shortcut: start from the part that cannot be anywhere but first (a capitalised subject, 'If', 'Although', 'Hardly'). It fails when SSC prints all parts in lower case; then use grammar links instead.

Example 1: Relative clause after its noun

Question: First part: The old man. Arrange: P: near the railway station Q: who had lost his way R: and asked for help S: sat on a bench

Solution: 'Who had lost his way' describes the old man, so Q comes right after the first part. The main verb 'sat on a bench' (S) follows; 'near the railway station' (P) tells where the bench was; 'and asked for help' (R) is the second action.

Answer: QSPR: The old man who had lost his way sat on a bench near the railway station and asked for help.

Example 2: Verb + to + object + place

Question: Arrange: P: a new bridge Q: the government has decided R: over the river S: to build

Solution: Q has the subject and verb. 'Decided' needs 'to + V1', so S follows Q. 'Build' needs an object: P. 'Over the river' (R) says where the bridge goes, so it ends the sentence.

Answer: QSPR: The government has decided to build a new bridge over the river.

Example 3: Inversion after 'Hardly'

Question: First part: Hardly. Arrange: P: when the train Q: had we reached R: the platform S: started moving

Solution: After an opening 'Hardly', the auxiliary comes before the subject: 'had we reached' (Q). 'Reached' needs its object 'the platform' (R). 'Hardly' pairs with 'when', so P follows, and P needs its verb 'started moving' (S).

Answer: QRPS: Hardly had we reached the platform when the train started moving.

Example 4: Superlative phrase

Question: Arrange: P: is one of the oldest Q: the city of Varanasi R: in the world S: continuously inhabited cities. (a) QSPR (b) PSQR (c) QPSR (d) QPRS

Solution: Q is the subject and P has the verb, so Q comes first and P second; this removes (a) and (b). 'One of the oldest' needs its plural noun next: 'continuously inhabited cities' (S). 'In the world' (R) comes after the noun, so (d), which puts R before S, fails.

Answer: (c) QPSR: The city of Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Example 5: Non-defining clause before the main verb

Question: Arrange: P: which was donated by a retired teacher, Q: the library R: has over 5,000 books S: of our village, (a) QSRP (b) QPSR (c) SQPR (d) QSPR

Solution: 'The library' (Q) needs 'of our village' (S) to complete the noun phrase; 'the library which was donated by a retired teacher of our village' would wrongly make the teacher 'of our village' and leave the commas unexplained. So QS.

Next, the 'which' clause (P) must follow 'the library of our village', and it is singular ('was'), so it cannot describe '5,000 books'; this removes (a). P comes before the main verb R. (c) starts with 'of our village', which cannot open a sentence.

Answer: (d) QSPR: The library of our village, which was donated by a retired teacher, has over 5,000 books.

Example 6: Type 3 conditional with a relative clause

Question: First part: If. Arrange: P: who were waiting outside Q: the doors had been opened on time, R: the people S: would not have been injured in the rush. (a) RPQS (b) QRPS (c) QPRS (d) RQPS

Solution: Type 3: 'If + had been + V3, … would have been + V3'. The if-clause must be complete before the result, so 'If' + Q ('the doors had been opened on time'). (a) and (d) put 'the people' right after 'If', which would make the people the ones opened.

The result clause needs a subject: 'the people' (R), described by 'who were waiting outside' (P), then the verb (S). (c) puts the 'who' clause after 'doors', which cannot be people.

Answer: (b) QRPS: If the doors had been opened on time, the people who were waiting outside would not have been injured in the rush.

Common mistakes

Putting a relative clause after the wrong noun: 'The woman is my neighbour whose son won' separates 'whose' from 'woman'; keep it next to its noun.

Ignoring inversion after 'Hardly', 'No sooner', 'Never': 'Hardly we had reached' is wrong; it must be 'Hardly had we reached'.

Leaving a part ending in 'of', 'to' or 'the' without its completion: such a part must be followed by its noun or verb at once.

Breaking a fixed pair: 'no sooner… when' or 'hardly… than' are never right; check that the order of the pair is kept.

Choosing by meaning alone: a sentence can be understandable but still ungrammatical. Check subject-verb, article-noun and verb-object links.

Practice questions

Q1. Arrange: P: a letter Q: my grandfather R: to the editor S: wrote. (a) QSPR (b) SQPR (c) QPSR (d) PSQR

Q2. First part: No sooner. Arrange: P: than it began Q: had the farmers R: to rain heavily S: sown the seeds. (a) QPSR (b) SQPR (c) QSRP (d) QSPR

Q3. Arrange: P: whose son won Q: the woman R: a gold medal S: is my neighbour. (a) QRSP (b) QPRS (c) PRQS (d) SQPR

Answers

Q1. (a) Subject (Q) + verb (S) + object (P) + 'to the editor' (R): My grandfather wrote a letter to the editor.

Q2. (d) Inversion 'had the farmers' (Q) + 'sown the seeds' (S) + 'than it began' (P) + 'to rain heavily' (R): No sooner had the farmers sown the seeds than it began to rain heavily.

Q3. (b) 'The woman' (Q) + her relative clause 'whose son won a gold medal' (P, R) + the main verb 'is my neighbour' (S).

Quick revision

Core first: subject + verb + object; then place, then time.

who/which/whose clause sits right after its noun; non-defining clause goes before the main verb.

Parts ending in the/of/to/by need their completion next; decided/wanted + to + V1.

Hardly/No sooner/Never at the start ⇒ auxiliary + subject; hardly…when, no sooner…than.