What the question looks like
One sentence, one blank, five options. The options may test vocabulary (choosing the word with the right meaning), grammar (the correct tense, form or agreement), or confusable words (eligible/illegible, assure/ensure/insure, accede/exceed). SBI papers usually carry 3-5 fillers in Prelims and a few more in Mains.
Step-by-step approach
- Predict before you look. Read the sentence and think of your own word for the blank. Then look for the option closest to it.
- Use the clue words. Contrast words (despite, although, unlike, but) call for an opposite idea; cause words (because, since, so) call for a matching idea; a colon or semicolon often introduces an explanation of the blank.
- Check grammar fit. After had been you need a past participle; after is likely you need to + verb; a singular subject needs a singular verb.
- Check the preposition after the blank. Pose as, accede to, hinge on, ineligible for. The preposition often eliminates three options at once.
Rules and collocations worth memorising
- raise awareness (not rise or arise), pose a threat / pose as, bridge a gap, honour a cheque, repay a loan, take steps, meet a target.
- assure someone (a person is the object); ensure something happens; insure against loss.
- accede to a demand (agree); exceed a limit (go beyond).
- eligible for (qualified); illegible (cannot be read).
- hoarding goods (storing to create scarcity); hording is not a word in this sense.
- Past perfect for the earlier of two past actions: By the time the police arrived, the thieves had escaped.
Worked example
"Online fraudsters often ______ as bank officials to trick customers." Options: pose, impersonate, pretend, disguise, behave. The word after the blank is as. Pose as is correct. Impersonate takes a direct object (impersonate bank officials, with no as); pretend needs to be; disguise needs themselves; behave as does not mean "pretend to be". The answer is pose.
Common traps
- Picking a word that is right in meaning but wrong in form (simplification where a verb is needed).
- Ignoring the tone: a sentence about a "resounding" success cannot take marginal.
- Look-alike words placed side by side on purpose: merge/emerge/submerge, proportion/proposition.
- Choosing the "fanciest" word. SBI fillers reward precision, not difficulty.
Time target: 20-30 seconds per filler. Fillers are the fastest marks in the paper, so attempt them first.