English Language
- FANBOYS conjunctions — For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. Remember these seven coordinating conjunctions for error spotting and sentence improvement questions.
- Subject-Verb agreement trick — Cross out prepositional phrases between subject and verb. "The box of chocolates IS" not "are"—ignore "of chocolates."
- Tense consistency marker — Spot time indicators: yesterday/ago=Past, tomorrow/will=Future, now/currently=Present. Mixed indicators signal tense errors.
- Common idiom pairs — "Adapt TO/Adopt FROM", "Accuse OF/Excuse FROM", "Die OF disease/Die FROM injury". Preposition swaps are frequent traps.
- CLOZE reading strategy — Read full passage first, then fill blanks. Eliminate options grammatically wrong first, then check meaning coherence.
Quantitative Aptitude
- Percentage-Fraction shortcuts — 12.5%=1/8, 16.67%=1/6, 20%=1/5, 25%=1/4, 33.33%=1/3. Convert instantly to simplify calculations.
- Alligation rule — (Cheaper quantity)/(Dearer quantity) = (Mean price - Cheaper price)/(Dearer price - Mean price). Cross-subtract for ratio.
- SI vs CI difference — For 2 years at R%, difference = P×(R/100)². For ₹10,000 at 10%: difference=₹100.
- Speed-Distance base conversions — km/h to m/s: multiply by 5/18. m/s to km/h: multiply by 18/5. Essential for quick conversions.
- Time-Work inverse rule — If A does work in x days and B in y days, together they finish in (x×y)/(x+y) days.
- Ages difference constant — Age difference between two people never changes. If A is 5 years older today, A remains 5 years older always.
- Profit percentage formula — Profit% = (Profit/CP)×100. Loss% = (Loss/CP)×100. Always on Cost Price, not Selling Price.
- Average addition/removal — New average = Old average ± (difference/number of items). When one item changes, adjust proportionally.
Reasoning Ability
- EJOTY alphabet positions — E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25. Every 5th letter for quick position reference.
- Blood relation gender markers — Mother's/Father's side determines maternal/paternal. Spouse's parents become in-laws. Only child's parents = no siblings for them.
- Direction net displacement — North-South cancel out; East-West cancel out. Track separately: (+N/-S) and (+E/-W), then apply Pythagoras if needed.
- Coding-Decoding letter shift — If A→C (forward 2), apply same shift consistently. For reverse: Z→X (backward 2). Pattern must be uniform.
- Inequality sign reversal — When multiplying/dividing by negative number, flip the sign. Otherwise, treat like normal algebra.
- Seating arrangement compass — In circular: clockwise=right, anticlockwise=left. In linear: fix one person first as anchor, build others relative to them.
- Puzzle elimination method — Use definite statements first to create fixed slots. Negative information ("A is not with B") eliminates possibilities faster.
- Floor/Building number trick — Ground floor = 0 in most questions unless specified. Count carefully: between 3rd and 7th = 3 floors (4th, 5th, 6th).