⚡ Quick quiz

Test yourself in under a minute: IBPS PO English Language Practice Test

Try these error-spotting, cloze and para-jumble items to see how quickly you can pin down the one wrong word or the correct sentence order.

1. 1. Read the passage and answer the question that follows: 'The Reserve Bank of India recently revised its guidelines on digital lending platforms, mandating that all loan disbursals and repayments must pass directly through bank accounts of the borrower and the regulated lender, without routing through any third-party pass-through account. This move is aimed at curbing unregulated lending apps that often charge exorbitant interest rates and rely on coercive recovery practices. Industry experts believe the new norms will improve transparency, even as some fintech firms have expressed concern over the added compliance burden.' Why did the RBI revise its digital lending guidelines?

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   A) To make loan disbursal slower and more expensiveB) To reduce the number of fintech firms operating in IndiaC) To increase the interest rates charged by lending appsD) To prevent unregulated apps from using third-party accounts and coercive recovery

2. 2. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: Despite reporting record profits, the bank remained ______ about extending unsecured loans, mindful of the previous quarter's rise in defaults.

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   A) enthusiasticB) indifferentC) recklessD) cautious

3. 3. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate preposition: The board of directors is expected to arrive ______ a decision on the merger by the end of this week.

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   A) inB) onC) atD) with

4. 4. Choose the option that best completes the sentence: ______ the central bank had repeatedly warned against excessive borrowing, several cooperative banks continued to extend loans without adequate collateral.

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   A) UnlessB) So thatC) BecauseD) Although

5. 5. Choose the word closest in meaning to the capitalised word: METICULOUS

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   A) painstakingB) carelessC) indifferentD) hurried

Reading Comprehension & Cloze Test

Two banking and economy themed passages test close reading and detail retrieval.

1. 1. Based on the passage in Question 1, what concern have some fintech firms raised about the new RBI norms? (A) That the norms will increase loan defaults (B) That the norms add to their compliance burden (C) That the norms will reduce transparency (D) That the norms will legalise coercive recovery

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   (B) That the norms add to their compliance burden🔊

   The last line explicitly says fintech firms 'expressed concern over the added compliance burden,' making this a directly stated-fact question rather than an inference.

2. 2. Read the passage and answer the question that follows: 'Retail inflation eased to a nine-month low last quarter, driven largely by a fall in vegetable prices and softer fuel costs. However, core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, remained sticky, suggesting that price pressures in services and manufactured goods have not fully eased. The central bank is therefore expected to hold interest rates steady at its next policy review rather than cut them immediately.' What does the passage suggest about core inflation? (A) It fell faster than overall retail inflation (B) It remained persistent despite the fall in headline inflation (C) It is no longer tracked by the central bank (D) It only measures vegetable and fuel prices

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   (B) It remained persistent despite the fall in headline inflation🔊

   The passage contrasts falling headline inflation with 'sticky' core inflation, meaning price pressures outside food and fuel had not eased, which matches option (B) precisely.

3. 3. Based on the passage in Question 3, what is the central bank likely to do at its next policy review? (A) Cut interest rates immediately (B) Raise interest rates sharply (C) Hold interest rates steady (D) Stop publishing inflation data

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   (C) Hold interest rates steady🔊

   The passage's concluding sentence directly states the bank is 'expected to hold interest rates steady... rather than cut them immediately,' ruling out both a cut and a sharp hike.

4. 4. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word to complete the passage: 'Several public sector banks have started using artificial intelligence to detect fraudulent transactions in real time. This technology allows banks to flag suspicious activity almost instantly, rather than relying solely on manual audits that could take weeks to ______ irregularities.' (A) create (B) uncover (C) ignore (D) delay

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   (B) uncover🔊

   The sentence contrasts AI's real-time detection with manual audits that are slow to find irregularities; 'uncover' fits this meaning precisely. 'Create' and 'ignore' contradict the sentence's intended meaning, and 'delay' doesn't fit grammatically as the object of 'to'.

Vocabulary Fill-in-the-Blanks & Error Spotting

Contextual single-word fill-in-the-blank questions, followed by four sentences split into four parts each to spot the grammatical error.

1. 1. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The auditor's report ______ several irregularities in the branch's cash-handling procedures that had gone unnoticed for months. (A) concealed (B) flattered (C) unearthed (D) postponed

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   unearthed🔊

   'Unearthed' means brought to light something previously hidden, matching 'irregularities... that had gone unnoticed'; 'concealed' would mean the opposite, hiding rather than revealing them.

2. 2. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: Once considered a niche product, mobile wallets have now become so ______ that even small roadside vendors accept digital payments. (A) obsolete (B) ubiquitous (C) exclusive (D) fragile

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   ubiquitous🔊

   'Ubiquitous' means present or found everywhere, which fits 'even small roadside vendors accept digital payments'; 'obsolete' and 'fragile' contradict the sense of widespread adoption.

3. 3. Read the sentence divided into four parts. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error: 'Each of the branch managers (A)/ are required to submit (B)/ their quarterly reports (C)/ before the fifth of every month. (D) No error'

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   (B) - 'are' should be 'is'🔊

   'Each' is a singular indefinite pronoun and always takes a singular verb, regardless of the plural noun 'branch managers' that follows the preposition 'of'.

4. 4. Read the sentence divided into four parts. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error: 'The new policy will effect (A)/ all existing customers (B)/ who have taken loans (C)/ from the bank. (D) No error'

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   (A) - 'effect' should be 'affect'🔊

   'Affect' (verb) means to influence or have an impact on something, which is the intended sense here; 'effect' as a verb means to bring about or cause, which does not fit.

5. 5. Read the sentence divided into four parts. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error: 'Neither the manager nor his assistants (A)/ was aware (B)/ of the discrepancy (C)/ in the ledger. (D) No error'

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   (B) - 'was' should be 'were'🔊

   In a neither/nor construction, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it; since 'assistants' (plural) is closer to the verb, it must be 'were', not 'was'.

6. 6. Read the sentence divided into four parts. Identify the part that contains a grammatical error: 'She is one of the employees who (A)/ has consistently exceeded (B)/ their targets (C)/ since joining the bank. (D) No error'

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   (B) - 'has' should be 'have'🔊

   The relative pronoun 'who' refers back to the plural noun 'employees', not to the singular 'she', so the verb in the relative clause must take the plural form 'have'.

Fill-in-the-Blanks, Para-Jumbles & Word Swap

Preposition, verb-form and vocabulary fill-in-the-blanks, followed by reordering jumbled sentences into a logical paragraph.

1. 1. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The manager's ______ approach to risk management helped the branch avoid the losses that plagued its competitors during the downturn. (A) reckless (B) judicious (C) impulsive (D) lax

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   (B) judicious🔊

   'Judicious' means showing good sense and sound judgment, matching the outcome of avoiding losses; the remaining options all suggest carelessness, which contradicts that outcome.

2. 2. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate verb form: By the time the auditors ______ their inspection, the branch had already rectified most of the discrepancies. (A) complete (B) completed (C) had completed (D) will complete

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   (B) completed🔊

   Since 'had already rectified' uses the past perfect to show an action completed before another past action, the later action, the auditors finishing their inspection, must be in the simple past tense.

3. 3. Arrange the following sentences (A), (B), (C), (D) in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph: (A) This shift has forced traditional banks to invest heavily in mobile applications and online platforms. (B) Over the past decade, customer preference has moved sharply away from physical bank branches. (C) As a result, many banks now measure success not by the number of branches but by app downloads and digital transaction volumes. (D) Younger customers, in particular, expect to complete most banking tasks from their smartphones.

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   BDAC🔊

   (B) introduces the trend of moving away from branches, (D) illustrates it with younger customers, (A) states the consequence for banks using 'this shift', and (C) gives the further result, so only BDAC preserves the cause-and-effect chain.

4. 4. Arrange the following sentences (A), (B), (C), (D) in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph: (A) However, this convenience comes at a cost, since fraudsters have found new ways to exploit unsuspecting users. (B) Contactless payment through smartphones has made queuing at checkout counters almost unnecessary. (C) Banks are therefore introducing multi-factor authentication and real-time fraud alerts to protect customers. (D) A single tap on a phone is now enough to complete a transaction that once required cash or a card.

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   BDAC🔊

   (B) introduces contactless payment's convenience, (D) elaborates on it, (A) pivots to the downside with 'however', and (C) concludes with the banks' response signalled by 'therefore', fixing BDAC as the only coherent order.

5. 5. Arrange the following sentences (A), (B), (C), (D) in a logical order to form a coherent paragraph: (A) Consequently, several public sector banks have begun offering doorstep banking services for senior citizens and differently-abled customers. (B) Financial inclusion has long been a stated goal of India's banking policy. (C) Yet millions of rural residents still find it difficult to travel long distances to reach a branch. (D) This gap between policy intent and ground reality has pushed regulators to rethink last-mile delivery of banking services.

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   BCDA🔊

   (B) states the policy goal, (C) contrasts it with rural reality via 'yet', (D) names this contrast as a 'gap', and (A) gives the resulting bank action via 'consequently', so BCDA is the only sequence that respects these connectives.

6. 6. The sentence below has two words interchanged, altering its intended meaning. Identify the pair: 'To reduce risk, the bank increased its exposure to unsecured loans and decreased its lending to secured assets.' (A) increased and decreased (B) risk and exposure (C) unsecured and secured (D) loans and assets

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   (A) increased and decreased🔊

   Reducing risk logically requires decreasing exposure to unsecured (risky) loans and increasing lending to secured (safer) assets. The given sentence has 'increased' and 'decreased' swapped relative to this logic, so interchanging them restores the sentence's intended meaning.

Sentence Completion & Word Usage

Selecting the right connector or intensifier to complete a sentence, and checking precise usage of easily confused word pairs in context.

1. 1. Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The merger between the two banks will go through only ______ both boards approve the revised valuation report. (A) if (B) unless (C) despite (D) whereas

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   (A) if🔊

   'Only if' is the correct idiomatic conditional pairing showing the merger strictly depends on board approval; 'unless' would reverse the meaning to 'except if', contradicting the intended sense.

2. 2. Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The new core banking software was ______ complex that even experienced staff required a week of training before going live. (A) too (B) so (C) such (D) very

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   (B) so🔊

   The structure 'so + adjective + that-clause' expresses a result, matching this sentence; 'such' would require the form 'such a complex system that', which does not fit the given slot.

3. 3. Choose the most appropriate word for the given context: Bank employees are trained to be ______ while discussing a customer's financial details, even in the presence of the customer's own family members. (A) discrete (B) discreet (C) discordant (D) discerning

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   (B) discreet🔊

   'Discreet' means careful and judicious about revealing sensitive information, fitting the context of protecting a customer's financial details; 'discrete' is a commonly confused homophone meaning separate or distinct.

4. 4. Choose the most appropriate word for the given context: The quarterly report contained ______ data on loan defaults, treating each branch as a separate unit rather than presenting a consolidated trend. (A) discreet (B) discrete (C) discordant (D) discernible

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   (B) discrete🔊

   'Discrete' means separate or individually distinct, matching branch-wise, non-consolidated data; 'discreet' refers to tactful behaviour and does not describe how data is structured.

5. 5. Choose the most appropriate word for the given context: The bank introduced several ______ measures, such as replacing printed passbooks with e-passbooks, to cut down on operational expenses. (A) economic (B) economical (C) economics (D) economize

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   (B) economical🔊

   'Economical' means cost-saving or efficient in using resources, fitting the context of cutting expenses; 'economic' relates broadly to the economy in general and lacks the sense of thriftiness needed here.

Vocabulary, One-Word Substitution & Phrase Replacement

Synonym and antonym recognition, replacing a descriptive phrase with a single accurate word, and a phrase-replacement question testing grammatically correct sentence structure.

1. 1. Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the capitalised word as used in the sentence: 'The company remained SOLVENT despite the losses.' (A) profitable (B) insolvent (C) liquid (D) stable

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   (B) insolvent🔊

   'Solvent' means having enough assets to cover one's debts; 'insolvent' directly denotes the inability to pay debts, making it the precise antonym in this financial context.

2. 2. Choose the word closest in meaning to the capitalised word: LUCRATIVE (A) profitable (B) risky (C) meagre (D) tedious

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   (A) profitable🔊

   'Lucrative' describes something that produces a great deal of profit or financial gain, which is exactly the sense conveyed by 'profitable'.

3. 3. Choose the word most opposite in meaning to the capitalised word as used in the sentence: 'Investors were unsettled by the VOLATILE stock prices.' (A) erratic (B) stable (C) fluctuating (D) unpredictable

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   (B) stable🔊

   'Volatile' describes something liable to change rapidly and unpredictably; 'stable' denotes steadiness and resistance to change, the clear opposite, while the other options are near-synonyms of 'volatile'.

4. 4. Choose the one word that best substitutes the given phrase: 'A person who invests and manages large sums of money, often on behalf of institutions or governments.' (A) Trustee (B) Financier (C) Auditor (D) Cashier

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   (B) Financier🔊

   A 'financier' specifically refers to a person engaged in large-scale management or investment of money, distinct from a 'trustee', who manages assets for a beneficiary, or an 'auditor', who examines accounts.

5. 5. Choose the one word that best substitutes the given phrase: 'The failure to repay a loan or fulfil a financial obligation as agreed.' (A) Deficit (B) Default (C) Deposit (D) Discount

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   (B) Default🔊

   'Default' precisely denotes the failure to meet a financial or legal obligation, such as missing a loan repayment, whereas 'deficit' refers to a shortfall in funds rather than a failure to repay.

6. 6. Choose the one word that best substitutes the given phrase: 'A person who lends money to others at an unreasonably high rate of interest.' (A) Philanthropist (B) Usurer (C) Financier (D) Miser

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   (B) Usurer🔊

   A 'usurer' is specifically a person who lends money at exorbitant or illegally high interest rates, distinct from a 'miser', who hoards money, or a general 'financier'.

7. 7. Improve the bracketed part of the sentence, if required, by choosing the best replacement: 'The bank's new policy have been designed (to helping small businesses) access credit more easily.' (A) to help small businesses (B) for helping small business (C) to helped small business (D) No improvement required

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   (A) to help small businesses🔊

   'Designed to' must be followed by the base infinitive form of the verb ('to help'), not the gerund ('to helping'). The plural noun 'businesses' is also correct here since the policy is meant to help multiple businesses in general, making option A the grammatically correct replacement.