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The responsibility of a Bank PO Exam is to grow the future banking system of India. The banking sector deals with financial matters in their everyday roles. And this includes foreign exchange and client servicing as well.
This is the reason why the exam focuses a lot on the basic English language skills of the candidate. The question paper of every year has multiple questions to test the vocabulary of the applicant. This is based on exam analysis of previous years as the banks don’t release a proper syllabus for the exams.
The questions revolve around basic reading, writing, and grammar skills that the candidate learns in school.
The candidates must not take this subject lightly because it looks easy. The syllabus for the prelims and the mains are mostly similar. The mains also has a descriptive paper which involves letter and essay writing in the English language.
Thus candidates can prepare for both the exams together. The best idea is to start with reading books and papers as much as possible. That will help in constructing a vocabulary and writing skills. Now let us take a look at the detailed Bank PO English Language Syllabus –
Bank PO Exam Pattern
| Exam Name | Sections | Number of Questions | Marks | Time Duration |
| Preliminary Exam | English Language | 30 | 30 | 60 Minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | ||
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | ||
| Mains Exam | English Language | 35 | 40 | 3.5 Hours |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 60 | ||
| Reasoning Ability | 45 | 60 | ||
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | ||
| Descriptive Paper | 2 | 24 |
Bank PO English Language Weightage
- It is present at both the stages for 30 marks in prelims and 40 marks in mains.
- There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks per incorrect option.
- The average time to solve this section is 20 minutes in prelims and 50 minutes in mains.
- There is one mark for the correct answer.
Bank PO Prelims English Language Syllabus
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze Test
- Para jumbles
- Miscellaneous
- Fill in the blanks
- Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting
- Paragraph Completion
- Idioms & Phrases
- Vocabulary/Word Association
- Sentence Completion
- Multiple Meaning
- Error Spotting
- Active/Passive Voices
- Rules For Tenses
- Rules For Prepositions
- Active And Passive Voice Rules
- Rules and List of Conjunctions
- Word Substitutions
- Homophones/Homonyms
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Letter Writing Format
- Precis Writing
- Adjective Degree Of Comparison Rules
- Article Rules
- Direct & Indirect Speech Rules
Bank PO Mains English Language Syllabus
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze Test
- Para jumbles
- Miscellaneous
- Fill in the blanks
- Multiple Meaning/Error Spotting
- Paragraph Completion
- Idioms & Phrases
- Vocabulary/Word Association
- Sentence Completion
- Multiple Meaning
- Error Spotting
- Active/Passive Voices
- Rules For Tenses
- Rules For Prepositions
- Active And Passive Voice Rules
- Rules and List of Conjunctions
- Word Substitutions
- Homophones/Homonyms
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Letter Writing Format
- Precis Writing
- Adjective Degree Of Comparison Rules
- Article Rules
- Direct & Indirect Speech Rules
- Letter Writing – Descriptive Paper
- Essay Writing – Descriptive Paper
The expected number of questions from the English Language in Bank PO Exams are –
- Reading Comprehension – 10 to 18 Questions
- Cloze Test – 5 to 10 Questions
- Error Spotting – 5 to 7 Questions
- Para Completion – 5 Questions
- Sentence Connectors – 5 Questions
- Sentence Improvement – 5 Questions
- Fill in the blanks – 5 Questions
Bank PO Prelims English Language Analysis
2020 – Moderate
- Reading Comprehension – 10 Questions
- Cloze Test – 07 Questions
- Filler – 07 Questions
- Sentence Rearrangement – 07 Questions
- Phrase Arrangement – 08 Questions
- Sentence Correction – 04 Questions
- Error Detection – 07 Questions
2019 – Moderate
- Reading Comprehension – 6-7 Questions
- Cloze Test – 5-6 Questions
- Single Fillers – 5 Questions
- Phase Replacement – 4 Questions
- Error Detection – 5 Questions
- Sentence Rearrangement – 5 Questions
Bank PO Mains English Language Analysis
2019 – Moderate
- Reading Comprehension – 12 questions
- Error Detection – 5 questions
- Cloze Test – 3 questions
- Word Rearrangement – 5 questions
- Sentence Rearrangement – 5 questions
- Para jumble – 5 questions
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2018 – Difficult
- Reading Comprehension – 21 questions
- Error Detection – 1 question
- Triple Filler – 4 questions
- Phrase Replacement – 2 questions
- Sentence Rearrangement – 4 questions
- New Model – 3 questions
English Language Weightage in Different Examinations
| Bank & Insurance Exams | Prelims | Mains |
| IBPS Exams – PO, Clerk, SO, and RRB Scale I/Asst. | 30 | 40 |
| SBI Exams – PO, Clerk and SO | 30 – 40 | 35-50 |
| RBI Exams – Asst. and Grade B | 30-35 | 40 |
| NICL, NIACL, BOB, NABARD, Indian bank, Nainital Bank, IPPB, etc. | 30-50 | |
5 Tips to prepare for Bank PO English Language Section
Read Daily
English is not a subject but a language. It requires interaction more than learning. Thus it is something you grow and cannot learn overnight. The best idea is to read regularly. That will help you understand what the language is about.
Once you start doing it there are no other major preparations needed for the exam. The best way is, to begin with, daily newspapers and then move towards the novels.
Develop Vocabulary
Again the language needs interaction regularly. That is the only way to understand what it means and then answer the relevant questions. The grammar is very important here and that is only developed through reading and writing.
The fillers and sentence correction needs a good grip on the language to answer correctly. The idea is to read more to improve this.
Be Curious
While reading you will come across many new words. Take the initiative to explore the words and not ignore them. This will help you know the exact meaning of the words in the exam questions.
Some candidates misinterpret the meaning of the question and lose their marks. Be curious to find out new words to avoid this mistake.
Write More
The first paper is an objective type but the second one requires writing skills. The descriptive paper is all about writing and making the piece interesting. And to achieve this the candidates must practice writing as much as possible.
Though the paper demands only essay and letter writing, other types of writing skills will help in practicing too. The aim is to structure the article with interesting yet new ideas.
Ace the Reading Comprehension
The reading comprehension has the most questions and marks weightage in the papers. This is common for both the papers. Candidates must solve previous year papers and quizzes to practice comprehension questions.
This topic remains the most important part of the exam. And during the exam read the question first and then get to the passage. This will help you save time. And don’t assume and solve. The answer is always inside the passage, be smart enough to find it out.
English Language Books for Bank PO Exam
- Comprehensive Guide to SBI Bank PO – Disha Experts
- Bank PO English Language Solved Papers – Arihant Publishers
- Objective General English – S. P. Bakshi
- English for Bank Exams – S Chand Publishers
Conclusion
This article was for candidates appearing for any stage of Bank PO Examinations. The English language section is important in all the papers and stages of the examination. It is present in other competitive examinations too.
The syllabus is common for both the stages which is a blessing for the appearing candidates. This article will help you with the exam pattern of the section, a detailed syllabus, exam analysis of previous years, and the weightage in papers.
We have also added some important tips for the candidates to achieve better results.