English in AISSEE ↗ carries 25 questions worth 2 marks each — that is 50 marks total. Missing basic grammar questions is the most common reason good students lose rank. This post covers the 20 most important topics with a sample question after each one, based on patterns seen in past AISSEE papers.
1. Tenses The single most repeated topic in AISSEE English. Questions come as fill-in-the-blank and error correction. You must know all 12 tenses — especially Simple Present, Simple Past, and Present Continuous.
Q: She ___ to school every day. (a) go (b) goes (c) gone (d) going Ans: (b) goes — Simple Present tense for daily habits. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022, 2023, 2024 — Class 6 & 9
2. Articles (a / an / the) One of the easiest scoring topics if rules are clear. Questions test vowel-sound rule, proper nouns, and zero article usage.
Q: He is ___ honest man. (a) a (b) an (c) the (d) no article Ans: (b) an — "honest" begins with a vowel sound. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2021, 2022, 2023 — Class 6
3. Noun — Types and Plurals Questions test collective nouns, abstract nouns, and singular-plural forms. Students often confuse collective and common nouns here.
Q: Which of these is a collective noun? (a) Dog (b) Flock (c) Run (d) Stone Ans: (b) Flock — group of birds is called a flock. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023 — Class 6
4. Pronoun Subject and object pronoun confusion is the most common mistake. Questions use fill-in-the-blank style with two people in the sentence.
Q: ___ and I went to the market. (a) Him (b) He (c) Them (d) Us Ans: (b) He — subject pronoun is needed before "and I." 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022 — Class 6
5. Adjective — Degrees of Comparison Comparative and superlative forms are tested every year. Irregular adjectives like good/better/best also appear.
Q: Ram is ___ than Shyam. (a) tall (b) more tall (c) taller (d) tallest Ans: (c) taller — comparative degree for two people. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2021, 2024 — Class 6 & 9
6. Verb — Action and Helping Verbs Students must identify correct verb forms and subject-verb agreement. Singular/plural subject with correct verb is the main test.
Q: They ___ playing cricket now. (a) is (b) are (c) was (d) were Ans: (b) are — plural subject "they" needs "are." 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023 — Class 6
7. Adverb How/when/where type adverbs and forming adverbs from adjectives are tested. Students often put adjective where adverb is needed.
Q: She sings ___. (a) beautiful (b) beauty (c) beautifully (d) more beautiful Ans: (c) beautifully — adverb modifies the verb "sings." 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022 — Class 9
8. Preposition Fill-in-the-blank with at/on/in/by/with/from is a must-know topic. Two or three preposition questions appear in almost every paper.
Q: The book is ___ the table. (a) on (b) at (c) by (d) from Ans: (a) on — surface placement uses "on." 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2021, 2022 — Class 6
9. Conjunction And/but/or/because/although/so — joining two sentences correctly. Questions test both coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Q: He was tired ___ he kept working. (a) so (b) but (c) or (d) and Ans: (b) but — shows contrast between two ideas. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023 — Class 6
10. Active and Passive Voice One of the highest-frequency topics in Class 9 papers. Students must change tense and rearrange subject-object correctly.
Q: Active — "She writes a letter." Change to Passive. Ans: A letter is written by her. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022, 2024 — Class 9
11. Direct and Indirect Speech (Narration) Reporting verb change and tense backshift are the core skills tested. "Said to" changing to "told/asked" is very commonly asked.
Q: Direct — He said, "I am happy." Ans: Indirect — He said that he was happy. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023, 2024 — Class 9
12. Synonyms One to two vocabulary questions on synonyms appear regularly. Words from everyday reading level are used — not difficult GRE-level words.
Q: Choose the synonym of "brave." (a) Coward (b) Timid (c) Courageous (d) Weak Ans: (c) Courageous — same meaning as brave. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022, 2023 — Class 6 & 9
13. Antonyms Always paired with synonyms in the English section. Students who read regularly score well here without extra effort.
Q: Choose the antonym of "ancient." (a) Old (b) Modern (c) Historic (d) Aged Ans: (b) Modern — opposite of ancient. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2021, 2023 — Class 6
14. Spelling Correction One or two questions ask students to find the correctly or incorrectly spelled word. Common confusing words like "receive/recieve" appear.
Q: Which is spelled correctly? (a) Recieve (b) Beleive (c) Achieve (d) Freind Ans: (c) Achieve — only correctly spelled option. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022 — Class 6
15. One Word Substitution A short definition is given and students pick the one word that fits. This tests both vocabulary and reading ability at the same time.
Q: A person who cannot read or write is called ___. (a) Dumb (b) Illiterate (c) Blind (d) Mute Ans: (b) Illiterate 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023 — Class 6 & 9
16. Sentence Correction / Error Spotting A sentence with one grammatical error is given. Students must find and correct it. Tense and subject-verb agreement errors are most common.
Q: She don't like ice cream. What is the error? Ans: "don't" should be "doesn't" — singular subject needs "doesn't." 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022, 2024 — Class 6 & 9
17. Fill in the Blanks (Mixed Grammar) These questions test multiple grammar rules at once. Students must read context carefully before choosing the right option.
Q: Neither Ram nor his friends ___ present. (a) is (b) are (c) was (d) were Ans: (b) are — verb agrees with the noun closer to it (friends). 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023 — Class 9
18. Reading Comprehension A short passage is given followed by 3–4 questions. Answers are always found in the passage itself — no outside knowledge needed.
Q (based on passage): What did the boy find in the garden? Ans: Read the last line of the passage — answer is always text-based. 📌 Passage-based questions appear every year — AISSEE 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
19. Idioms and Phrases Two to three questions test common idioms used in everyday English. Students must know the meaning, not the literal words.
Q: "Once in a blue moon" means — (a) Every day (b) Very rarely (c) At night (d) Every month Ans: (b) Very rarely 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2023, 2024 — Class 9
20. Punctuation Capital letters, full stops, commas, and question marks are tested. One sentence is given and students pick the correctly punctuated version.
Q: which of these is correct? (a) where are you going (b) Where are you going? (c) where are you going? (d) Where are you going. Ans: (b) Where are you going? — starts with capital, ends with question mark. 📌 Asked in AISSEE 2022 — Class 6
Quick Summary Table
| # | Topic | Class | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenses | 6 & 9 | Every year |
| 2 | Articles | 6 | Every year |
| 3 | Nouns | 6 | High |
| 4 | Pronouns | 6 | High |
| 5 | Adjectives | 6 & 9 | Every year |
| 6 | Verbs | 6 | High |
| 7 | Adverbs | 9 | Medium |
| 8 | Prepositions | 6 | Every year |
| 9 | Conjunctions | 6 | High |
| 10 | Active/Passive Voice | 9 | Every year |
| 11 | Narration | 9 | Every year |
| 12 | Synonyms | 6 & 9 | High |
| 13 | Antonyms | 6 | High |
| 14 | Spelling | 6 | Medium |
| 15 | One Word Sub. | 6 & 9 | High |
| 16 | Error Spotting | 6 & 9 | Every year |
| 17 | Fill in Blanks | 9 | Every year |
| 18 | Comprehension | 6 & 9 | Every year |
| 19 | Idioms & Phrases | 9 | Medium |
| 20 | Punctuation | 6 | Medium |
