While answering any questions in the grammar and sentence correction, it is very important to keep in mind the English grammar rules.

• Rules of verbs: Identify the grammatical number of the nouns (singular, plural, etc) and ensure that the verb usage is accurate.

  1. 'None' and 'Everyone' are singular nouns. For example, 'None of the students is guilty.'
  2. Nouns which denote a collective group are singular. For example, 'A team of five is going to party tonight.'

• Tense of the verbs: Ensure that the tenses of the verbs in all parts of the sentence are consistent

• Connectivity of verbs: When a group of verbs is connected to a noun in the same sentence, the tense of the verbs should be consistent. For example, 'My kid brother cries, eats and sleeps all day long' is correct and it should not be, 'My kid brother cries, eats and is sleeping all day long.'

Fill in the blanks:

In general, the questions in this topic consist of a lengthy sentence with two blanks that need to be filled. Each of the four options consist two words separated by a comma. Generally, the words that need to be filled are verbs, adverbs or adjectives.The words in the correct option when used in conjunction with the questions form a coherent sentence.

Things to remember while answering FIBs:

• What is the tense of the words that need to be used in the blanks?
• Are the two parts of the sentence in contrast to each other?
• Identify the nouns in both the parts of the sentence and figure out whether they are singular or plural
• Are there any negative conjunctions in the question? Eg: However,But, If, etc

Types of Questions asked:

There are two types of questions that are generally asked in Fill In the Blanks. They are:

• Inverse Sentence: The first part and the second part of the sentence are in contrast with each other and are typically separated by a negative conjunction like however, but, if, etc. For example, "Many parents try too hard to __ their kids, but kids often turn __".

  1. Please, mature
  2. Teach, playful
  3. Discipline, rebellious

  4. Encourage, depressed

     In the above sentence, it can be inferred that the first part and second part of the sentence are in contrast with each other. So, often the efforts of the parents are in vain. It can also be inferred that the actions of the parents are responsible for what their children turn into. The only option which satisfies all these criteria is the third option of 'discipline, rebellious'.

• Positive Reinforcement: The first part and second part of the sentence are in line with each other and are typically separated by positive conjunction like similarly, also, and, etc. For example, 'The murder charges against Raghu were proven in court and he was __'

  1. Deplored
  2. Incarcerated
  3. Vindicated

  4. Censured

     In the above sentence, the word in the blank, is a direct result of his being found guilty in court and hence, incarcerated completes the sentence the best.