CDS English Paper: Detailed Topic-Wise Guide

Concise overview of the English section for the Combined Defence Services Examination. Essential guide for aspiring candidates aiming to excel.

The Combined Defence Services Examination (CDS) is conducted by the Union Public

Service Commission for admission to:

• Indian Military Academy (IMA)

• Indian Naval Academy (INA)

• Air Force Academy (AFA)

• Officers’ Training Academy (OTA)

The English paper is compulsory and identical for candidates applying to all four academies. OTA candidates take only English and General Knowledge, while IMA, INA and AFA candidates also take Elementary Mathematics. UPSC CDS II 2026 notification

As of 3 September 2026, CDS II 2026 is scheduled for 13 September 2026. The English paper will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. IST. Official UPSC timetable

1. Official English syllabus

UPSC’s official wording is brief:

The question paper will be designed to test the candidates’ understanding of English and workmanlike use of words.

The notification further states that the standard of English will approximately be what may be expected of a graduate of an Indian university.

Therefore, CDS English is not merely a school-level grammar examination. It tests whether a candidate can:

• understand formal and academic English;

• use words accurately in context;

• recognise grammatical and structural errors;

• follow the logical development of ideas;

• distinguish between closely related words;

• interpret passages quickly and correctly; and

• handle practical English with precision.

  FPLLOW THIS TO DOWNLOAD CDS QP 2026

https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/QP-CDS-I-26-ENGLISH-130426.pdf

QP-CDS-I-26-ENGLISH-130426.pdf

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2. CDS English examination pattern

Feature	Details
Paper code	11
Duration	2 hours
Maximum marks	100
Number of questions	120
Type	Objective MCQs
Options per question	Four
Medium	English only
Calculator	Not permitted
Answering mode	OMR sheet
Pen required	Black ballpoint pen

Candidates get approximately one minute per question.

Marking scheme

Since 120 questions together carry 100 marks:

• Correct answer: approximately 0.833 mark

• Wrong answer: deduction of approximately 0.278 mark

• Unanswered question: no penalty

• More than one option marked: treated as incorrect

The official rule is that one-third of the marks assigned to a question is deducted—not necessarily 0.33 marks. For the English paper:

UPSC also retains the discretion to prescribe qualifying marks in individual subjects. Official marking instructions

Notif-CDS-II-2026-Engl-200526.pdf

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3. Detailed English syllabus

A. Vocabulary and word usage

Vocabulary is one of the most important components of CDS English. UPSC increasingly tests vocabulary through sentences rather than isolated definitions.

1. Synonyms

Candidates identify the word nearest in meaning to the highlighted word.

Preparation should cover:

• contextual synonyms;

• formal and academic vocabulary;

• shades of meaning;

• positive, negative and neutral connotations;

• differences in intensity;

• words with more than one meaning.

For example, the synonym of grave will depend on whether it means “serious,” “a burial place” or “to engrave.”

2. Antonyms

Questions require the most appropriate opposite according to context.

Study:

• direct opposites;

• contextual opposites;

• negative prefixes;

• gradable antonyms;

• complementary opposites;

• contrasting attitudes and qualities.

3. Meaning of words in context

Candidates may have to select the precise meaning of a word as used in a sentence.

This tests:

• denotation and connotation;

• literal and figurative meanings;

• meaning derived from context;

• specialised or formal usage;

• polysemous words.

4. Words often confused

This is a high-priority area. Common pairs include:

• affect–effect;

• accept–except;

• advice–advise;

• adapt–adopt;

• allusion–illusion;

• assure–ensure–insure;

• complement–compliment;

• conscience–conscious;

• eminent–imminent;

• principal–principle;

• stationary–stationery;

• continual–continuous;

• credible–credulous;

• economic–economical.

Candidates must know both the meaning and grammatical use of each word.

5. Homophones, homonyms and similar-sounding words

Questions may test words that sound alike or look similar but have different meanings.

Examples:

• altar–alter;

• canvas–canvass;

• cite–site–sight;

• coarse–course;

• discreet–discrete;

• later–latter;

• moral–morale;

• weather–whether.

6. Correct use of words

A word may be presented in several sentences. Candidates determine:

• the sentence in which it has been used correctly;

• whether all usages are correct;

• the meaning appropriate to each context;

• whether the word has been confused with another form.

This requires knowledge of:

• collocation;

• transitive and intransitive usage;

• countable and uncountable nouns;

• adjective–noun combinations;

• verb–preposition combinations;

• register and idiomatic usage.

7. Idioms and phrases

Candidates should learn:

• meaning of common idioms;

• appropriate context of use;

• phrasal expressions;

• figurative meanings;

• idioms related to action, character, conflict, success and failure.

Examples include:

• at sixes and sevens;

• beat about the bush;

• bury the hatchet;

• call a spade a spade;

• hit the nail on the head;

• in the doldrums;

• leave no stone unturned;

• take with a pinch of salt.

8. Phrasal verbs

Study the meanings and uses of combinations such as:

• bring about;

• call off;

• carry out;

• come across;

• do away with;

• fall through;

• look into;

• put up with;

• take after;

• turn down.

9. One-word substitution

Although its weightage varies, candidates should prepare words denoting:

• people and professions;

• beliefs and doctrines;

• government and administration;

• speech and writing;

• character and behaviour;

• places and institutions;

• scientific and literary concepts.

10. Word formation

Candidates should understand:

• prefixes and suffixes;

• roots;

• noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms;

• negative formations;

• spelling changes during derivation.

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A young man at a desk is focused on studying, surrounded by educational materials, preparing to identify a word's function.

4. Grammar and usage

1. Parts of speech or word classes

Candidates may be asked to identify the function of a highlighted word.

Prepare:

• nouns;

• pronouns;

• adjectives;

• verbs;

• adverbs;

• prepositions;

• conjunctions;

• interjections;

• determiners;

• participles;

• infinitives and gerunds.

The same word can perform different functions:

• He arrived before noon. — preposition

• I had seen him before. — adverb

• Think before you speak. — conjunction

2. Nouns

Study:

• countable and uncountable nouns;

• singular and plural forms;

• collective nouns;

• possessive forms;

• agreement with verbs and pronouns;

• commonly misused noun forms.

3. Pronouns

Prepare:

• personal, possessive and reflexive pronouns;

• relative pronouns;

• demonstrative and indefinite pronouns;

• pronoun–antecedent agreement;

• case: subject and object forms;

• correct use of who, whom, whose, which and that.

4. Articles and determiners

Topics include:

• a, an and the;

• omission of articles;

• articles before unique, abstract and proper nouns;

• some, any, much, many, few, little;

• each, every, either, neither;

• all, both, enough, several;

• demonstrative and possessive determiners.

5. Adjectives and degrees of comparison

Study:

• attributive and predicative adjectives;

• adjective order;

• comparative and superlative forms;

• irregular comparison;

• parallel comparison;

• errors involving senior, junior, superior, preferable and similar words.

6. Adverbs

Questions may cover:

• position of adverbs;

• adjective–adverb confusion;

• frequency and degree;

• hard/hardly, late/lately, near/nearly;

• misplaced modifiers;

• comparative forms.

7. Verbs and verb forms

Prepare:

• finite and non-finite verbs;

• regular and irregular verbs;

• transitive and intransitive verbs;

• linking verbs;

• auxiliary verbs;

• causative verbs;

• stative and dynamic verbs;

• appropriate verb patterns.

8. Tenses and sequence of tenses

Candidates need control over:

• present, past and future forms;

• simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous aspects;

• past perfect in earlier past actions;

• present perfect versus simple past;

• future time expressions;

• sequence of tenses;

• time clauses.

9. Subject–verb agreement

Important rules include:

• agreement with singular and plural subjects;

• collective nouns;

• either–or and neither–nor;

• intervening phrases;

• indefinite pronouns;

• quantities, distances, titles and names;

• a number of versus the number of;

• subjects joined by as well as, along with and together with.

10. Prepositions

A very important CDS area.

Prepare:

• prepositions of time, place and movement;

• adjective–preposition combinations;

• noun–preposition combinations;

• verb–preposition combinations;

• fixed expressions;

• unnecessary or omitted prepositions.

Examples:

• resemblance to;

• comply with;

• abstain from;

• capable of;

• indebted to;

• insist on.

11. Conjunctions and connectors

Study:

• coordinating and subordinating conjunctions;

• correlative conjunctions;

• cause and effect;

• contrast and concession;

• purpose and result;

• condition;

• addition and exemplification;

• logical discourse markers.

Examples include although, whereas, nevertheless, therefore, moreover, unless, lest and provided that.

12. Modals

Candidates should understand:

• ability;

• permission;

• possibility;

• probability;

• obligation;

• advice;

• deduction;

• prohibition;

• past modal constructions.

13. Non-finite verbs

Prepare:

• gerunds;

• infinitives;

• bare infinitives;

• present and past participles;

• perfect infinitives;

• verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives;

• dangling and misplaced participles.

14. Active and passive voice

Questions may test:

• tense-based transformations;

• passive constructions with modals;

• two-object verbs;

• imperative sentences;

• passive infinitives and gerunds;

• suitability of passive construction.

15. Direct and indirect speech

Prepare:

• statements;

• questions;

• commands and requests;

• exclamations;

• tense and pronoun changes;

• time and place expressions;

• reporting verbs.

16. Conditionals

Study:

• zero, first, second and third conditionals;

• mixed conditionals;

• unless, provided, supposing, but for;

• inverted conditionals.

17. Sentence structure

Candidates should understand:

• phrases and clauses;

• independent and dependent clauses;

• simple, compound and complex sentences;

• relative clauses;

• parallel construction;

• modifiers;

• coordination and subordination.

5. Error detection and sentence correction

Spotting errors

A sentence is divided into parts, and the candidate identifies the part containing an error.

Errors may involve:

• subject–verb agreement;

• tense;

• articles and determiners;

• pronouns;

• prepositions;

• conjunctions;

• adjectives and adverbs;

• comparison;

• modifiers;

• parallelism;

• redundancy;

• idiomatic usage;

• word choice;

• non-finite verbs.

Sentence improvement

A part of the sentence may be underlined. Candidates select the best replacement or choose “No improvement.”

The correct option must be:

• grammatically correct;

• logically appropriate;

• idiomatic;

• concise;

• free from ambiguity.

Fill in the blanks.

Questions may test:

• vocabulary;

• verb forms;

• prepositions;

• articles;

• determiners;

• connectors;

• collocations;

• phrasal verbs;

• logical meaning.

Cloze test

A passage contains several blanks. The candidate chooses words that preserve:

• grammatical correctness;

• coherence;

• tone;

• logical progression;

• contextual meaning.

CDS_English_Syllabus_2026_Master_Study_Pack

CDS_English_Syllabus_2026_Master_Study_Pack.pdf

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6. Sentence arrangement and verbal reasoning

Ordering of words

Different parts of a sentence are labelled P, Q, R and S. Candidates arrange them to produce a complete grammatical sentence.

Ordering of sentences

A paragraph may contain:

• a fixed opening sentence, S1;

• four jumbled sentences, P, Q, R and S;

• a fixed concluding sentence, S6.

Candidates determine the correct sequence by examining:

• chronological order;

• cause and effect;

• pronoun references;

• repetition of keywords;

• general-to-specific movement;

• contrast;

• introductory and concluding statements.

Relationship between sentences

Two statements may be given. The second may:

• support the first;

• explain it;

• illustrate it;

• contradict it;

• qualify it;

• expand it;

• present a cause or consequence;

• give an exception;

• draw an inference.

This is increasingly important because it combines English comprehension with logical reasoning.

Matching-list questions

Candidates may match:

• words with meanings;

• terms with definitions;

• confused words with their correct usage;

• expressions with appropriate explanations;

• sentences with logical relationships.

7. Reading comprehension

Passages may be literary, social, scientific, historical, environmental, philosophical or argumentative.

Questions can test:

• central idea;

• suitable title;

• explicitly stated information;

• inference;

• author’s purpose;

• tone and attitude;

• meaning of words in context;

• reference of pronouns;

• cause-and-effect relationship;

• conclusion;

• assumption;

• fact versus opinion.

Candidates should practise identifying tones such as:

• analytical;

• critical;

• optimistic;

• pessimistic;

• ironic;

• persuasive;

• objective;

• reflective;

• apprehensive.

8. What is not normally tested

The CDS English paper does not ordinarily include:

• essay writing;

• letter writing;

• précis writing;

• descriptive answers;

• literature-history questions;

• poetry appreciation;

• spoken English;

• listening tests;

• creative writing.

It is entirely an objective English language and comprehension paper.

9. Latest-paper trend

The CDS I 2026 official paper contained 120 questions and placed considerable emphasis on contextual vocabulary and language reasoning. Its major areas included:

• paired or confusing words;

• contextual synonyms and antonyms;

• word meanings;

• idioms and phrases;

• parts of speech;

• prepositions and determiners;

• similar-sounding words;

• sentence ordering;

• relationship between statements;

• matching-list questions;

• error detection;

• reading comprehension.

The exact distribution is not permanent. UPSC can alter the number, order and form of questions in every examination.

10. Recommended preparation priority

Priority	Areas
Very high	Contextual vocabulary, synonyms, antonyms, confusing words
Very high	Sentence ordering and logical relationship between sentences
Very high	Reading comprehension
High	Error spotting and grammatical usage
High	Parts of speech, prepositions and determiners
High	Idioms, phrases and correct word usage
Moderate	Cloze tests and fill-in-the-blanks
Moderate	Voice, narration, non-finites and sentence transformation
Variable	One-word substitutions, spelling and phrasal verbs

Suggested two-hour attempt strategy

• Vocabulary and direct-usage questions: 30–35 minutes

• Grammar and error detection: 25–30 minutes

• Sentence arrangement and reasoning: 25–30 minutes

• Reading comprehension: 20–25 minutes

• Review and OMR checking: 10 minutes

Because negative marking applies, a candidate should not guess blindly. Accuracy is more valuable than attempting all 120 questions.

Most important conclusion

CDS English should be prepared as a combination of:

A traditional grammar course alone is insufficient. Candidates need systematic vocabulary development, extensive sentence-based practice, paragraph organisation, comprehension and regular work with official UPSC previous papers.

If helpful, I can set up “Monitor CDS English updates” so future notification or syllabus-pattern changes are not missed.

Download the CDS English paper for practice

CDS_English_Model_Paper_WITH_ABCD_Options.pdf

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