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  • English Subject Preparation for SBI PO

    Updated : 28-Sep-2017

    SBI is one of the most trusted financial institutions of India. Desired Candidates can apply online directly.  State Bank of India announces notification for the recruitment of Probationary Officer post through their online portal and various other channels. Below are the details to be furnished for the online submission-SBI is one of the most trusted financial institutions of India. Desired Candidates can apply online directly.  State Bank of India announces notification for the recruitment of Probationary Officer post through their online portal and various other channels. Below are the details to be furnished for the online submission-

    •  Filling up basic information
    • Uploading of photograph & signature
    • Preview the Application before final submission
    • Application Fee Payment

    The English part for the SBI PO exam can be broadly divided into 4 parts. We will incorporate individual strategies for each section to Prepare English for SBI PO in this article. VocabularyGrammarReading ComprehensionVerbal Ability

    How to Prepare GRAMMAR in English for SBI PO


    There are few main topics in Grammar on which questions are asked in Prelims. Error SpottingPhrase Replacement

    1. Grammar ? Many questions in the paper will be based on basic Grammar concepts like Tenses, Articles, Prepositions, Degrees of Comparison, Subject-Verb Agreement, Conjunctions, Parts of Speech, Adverbs, Number in Nouns, etc.
    2. Even a short but good preparation of basic grammar rules will go a long way and help you. Try going through study notes for English.

    3. Look for articles and lessons relevant to topics often asked like Error Spotting and Gerunds etc.
    4. Practice grammar questions thoroughly. You can do this even as you travel, helping you multitask and save time as well.
    5. When it comes to grammatical person, English has three points of view to it, and each of those can be either singular or plural in their manner. The points of view are as followed: singular or plural first-person, singular or plural third-person and singular or plural second-person.
    6. The sentences is English are structured following the subject–verb–object order (such as “Andrea ran to the door,” not “Run to the door Andrea”). In general, articles come before adjectives, and adjectives come before the nouns they modify to understand it correctly. Modifiers should always be placed as close to their nouns as possible to it. 
    7 Punctuation is very important part of language, because it indicates baiscs about - starts, stops, pauses, and relationships. Capitalize the first letter of every sentence, and the first letter of all proper nouns (the names of people and places). It is the basics of language.

    How to Prepare VOCABULARY in English for SBI PO.

    Fill in the Blanks
    1. Whenever you come across a new word, whether it is in a newspaper or in the article or in book, make sure to look it up in a dictionary or google it on your device. This will also help you to enhance your understanding of the context of the passage for Reading Comprehension or complete Test.
    2. Read the Mixbag study notes to understand contextual usage.
    3. Try out Mnemonic Techniques to remember vocabulary as well. This is an incredibly powerful way to quickly remember the meanings of often asked words in the test.
    4. Go through blogs on internet and find articles on Vocabulary like Easily Confused Words for e.g. Lose & Loose. You should also read up on tips for Cloze Test.
    5. Practice sectional tests of English language every day to improve english.

    How to Prepare READING COMPREHENSION in English for exams.

    1. The section will be likely based on topics like Banking & Economy, Geo-Politics, Social Issues, Business and more. The good thing is that the questions will be directly based on the content of the section. One thing is that you must be conscious while choosing the right option as the options are sometimes very similar to each other..
    2. The problems will be mainly Fact-Based, Inference and Vocabulary based also. Some problems can also be asked on the Main Idea, Theme of Passage & author’s opinion. 
    3. The passages are of medium length, thus the pattern of reading fast and understanding the intent of the passage needs to be developed to lessen the time and maximize the output.
    4. Practice atleast one comprehension section every day from problems available online. Constant practice will help you achieve accuracy and help minimize the time required.
    5. Go through some tips to iron out the mistakes you make in tackling questions. Once you are done, an analysis of previous year’s questions.

    How to compose VERBAL ABILITY in English for SBI PO

    1. Particular section consists of a few sentences para jumbled with 5 questions based on it. Learn how to effectively tackle them using these guidelines.
    2. Problems on sentence completion or paragraph completion may be asked, where you need to finish a sentence understanding the context of the sentence/paragraph. This is a relatively easy section from other ones.
    3. Understand the logic of the passage while answering these questions. Always keep in mind the overall story how it is being narrated, as the passage will always tell you a story with a definite beginning, middle and end as well.
    4. Also Look for connecting words like conjunctions that will help you link the story well.
    5. Since main authority of SBI is conducting the exam so it is very likely that they will experiment with the verbal ability section. You can expect topics like Odd Sentence Out and a few more which you can check in 10 year exam papers.

    General Strategy to Prepare for English for SBI PO exam.

    1. Remember that in the SBI PO Prelims exam, time is of utmost importance. Try not to spend more than 15 minutes on the English Section. Accuracy and speed can only be achieved by taking more mock tests and timing yourself while you take those tests to get the best results of of it.
    2. Do spend time studying basic rules of Grammar. These rules will help you crack many topics in the paper. Unlike Vocabulary, the rules and concepts are often repeated so do take care of them. So if you practice enough, you will likely secure more marks in the paper.
    3. It is always advisable if you start with the Vocabulary section in the start, you can get many marks in one go. Also, it is the fastest method to get through your exam. Next is to target Reading Comprehension section. After quickly reading make sure to attempt the fact and vocab based questions before you attempt the inference/theme/main idea based questions. Verbal Ability portion should come next because it is quite easy and scoring. If your Grammar is weak, attempt it last as it might be a little tricky and hence time consuming as well.