Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner and Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer (APFC and EO/AO) 2025 recruitment test. Transcribed from the Commission's own booklet (series A, PENA-A-PTS); answer worked out by our faculty — UPSC has published no answer key for this sitting. This question is in Part A. Answer last reviewed 25 August 2026.

1. Amidst the scuffle and the resultant confusion, the thief managed to slip away. 2. There was not a single person amongst those assembled who was willing to become the leader. 3. Among the members of the community the local doctor was the one who was most respected. Select the answer using the codes given below :

(a)1 and 2 only
(b)2 and 3 only
(c)1 and 3 only
(d)1, 2 and 3

Answer

Why

Correct — D, (d) 1, 2 and 3.

The three underlined words are 'Amidst' in sentence 1, 'amongst' in sentence 2 and 'Among' in sentence 3, and each is used correctly.

English distinguishes two prepositions here, and the distinction is about what follows them, not about which form is used.

Amid, and its variant amidst, mean in the middle of something that is not counted - a mass, a substance, a situation, an atmosphere. One writes amid the confusion, amid the rubble, amid growing concern, amid the noise. Sentence 1 gives 'Amidst the scuffle and the resultant confusion', where the objects are a disturbance and a state of mind, both uncountable. That is the proper home of amid.

Among, and its variant amongst, mean in the company of, or surrounded by, things that are counted - a group of separate individuals. One writes among the members, among friends, among the papers on the desk. Sentence 2 gives 'amongst those assembled', a countable group of persons, and sentence 3 gives 'Among the members of the community', another countable group. Both are proper uses of among.

The -st forms need a word of their own, because they cause needless doubt. Amidst and amongst are ordinary variants of amid and among, somewhat more frequent in British than in American writing and slightly more formal or literary in tone. They are not errors, they are not archaisms, and they carry no difference of meaning. A sentence is not wrong for using amongst where among would do.

With all three sentences correct, the answer is the option that names all three.

Why the others are wrong

(a)1 and 2 only — This option excludes sentence 3, which is the plainest correct use in the item: 'Among the members of the community' places a person within a counted group, which is exactly what among is for. There is nothing in the sentence to fault - the preposition governs a plural countable noun, the sentence is complete, and the word order is ordinary. The option is likely to attract a candidate who suspects that a sentence-initial 'Among' is somehow irregular, or who assumes that an item offering three sentences cannot intend all three.
(b)2 and 3 only — This option excludes sentence 1, and the reasoning behind that exclusion is usually a misremembered rule that amid or amidst is archaic and should be avoided. It is neither. Amid and amidst are current English, and they are the correct choice before an uncountable object - which is what 'the scuffle and the resultant confusion' supplies. If anything, sentence 1 is the item's best illustration of the rule, because substituting 'among' would produce 'among the scuffle and the resultant confusion', which is wrong for a reason that can be stated: confusion is not a set of separate things to be among.
(c)1 and 3 only — This option excludes sentence 2, and the only ground for doing so would be the belief that 'amongst' is incorrect and that only 'among' is permissible. That belief is common and mistaken. Amongst is a standard variant, used in British writing without comment, and 'not a single person amongst those assembled' is idiomatic. The sentence also uses the preposition in the correct sense, with a countable group of people. A candidate choosing this option has usually applied a rule about form where the item is testing a rule about meaning.

Concept

Two questions decide any item on this pair, and only one of them matters.

The question that matters is countability. Amid and amidst take uncountable objects: masses, substances, situations and atmospheres - amid the smoke, amid the wreckage, amid speculation, amid a crisis. Among and amongst take countable plural objects: groups of separate things or people - among the delegates, among the files, among the trees.

A borderline case is worth noting. Where a plural noun is being treated as an undifferentiated mass rather than as separate items, amid is possible: 'amid the crowds' emphasises the surrounding press, 'among the crowds' the individual groups. Careful writers use the choice deliberately.

The question that does not matter is the -st. Amidst and amongst differ from amid and among only in register and frequency; they are more common in British English and carry a faintly more formal or literary tone. Neither is wrong, and no examination point turns on choosing between them.

A third member of the family completes the picture: 'between' is used for two items, or for several items considered in their several relations to one another - an agreement between the four States. The older rule that between is only for two has long been qualified.

So the working test is a single question: is the object of the preposition a countable set or an uncountable mass ? That question answers all three sentences in this item.

This is the second item of the preposition set, and unlike the item before it and the two after it, it offers no 'None of the above'. Its fourth option is '1, 2 and 3', which means the item is capable of accepting every sentence - and does.

That variation is deliberate and instructive. Within a single five-item set the paper alternates between items where the escape option is the answer and items where every sentence is correct. A candidate who has just answered 'None of the above' on the previous item and expects a pattern will be wrong here; a candidate who expects the paper to distribute answers evenly will be wrong somewhere else. The only defence is to judge each numbered sentence independently and let the option list follow.

The item is also a reminder that a usage set can test recognition of correct English rather than detection of errors. Three correct sentences require the candidate to know why each is correct, which is harder than spotting one obvious fault, and it punishes the common habit of hunting for a mistake until something is found.

Key facts

Amid and amidst take uncountable objects - a mass, a substance, a situation or an atmosphere: amid the confusion, amid the rubble, amid growing concern.
Among and amongst take countable plural objects - separate persons or things: among the members, among friends, among the papers.
Amidst and amongst are standard variants of amid and among, more frequent in British writing and slightly more formal in tone; neither is an error and neither differs in meaning.
Where a plural noun is treated as an undifferentiated mass rather than as separate items, amid becomes possible - 'amid the crowds' against 'among the crowds' - and careful writers use the choice for emphasis.
'Between' completes the family: used for two items, and also for several items considered in their several relations to one another, as in an agreement between four States.

Study next

Amid, amidst, among, amongst and between, sorted by the countability of what follows them.The -st variants in English prepositions and adverbs - amidst, amongst, whilst, unbeknownst - and their register.Countable and uncountable nouns, and the determiners and prepositions each admits.The modern rule for 'between' and 'among' with more than two items.Judging each numbered sentence on its own before consulting the option list, so that an expected pattern cannot mislead.

Common traps

Believing that amongst and amidst are incorrect or archaic and rejecting a sentence for using them.
Applying the countability rule backwards and expecting 'among' before an abstract noun such as confusion.
Hunting for an error because the format implies one, when an item in this set may accept all three sentences.
Carrying the previous item's answer shape across, having just answered 'None of the above'.
Doubting a sentence-initial preposition; 'Among the members ...' at the head of a sentence is ordinary English.

The preposition set on these papers alternates deliberately between items where every sentence is wrong and items where every sentence is right, and the option lists are printed so that both outcomes are available. The underlined words are drawn from the small number of pairs that genuinely trouble educated writers - amid and among, different from and different than, between and among, in time and on time, and the particles of common phrasal verbs. Preparation is therefore finite and worth doing properly: perhaps twenty pairs, each reduced to a one-line test. Here the test is countability, and it decides all three sentences in a few seconds.

Related PYQs

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q7

Which one of the following parts of the sentence, “As you know that the ignorant are easily duped”, has an error?

(a) As you know
(b) that the ignorant
(c) are easily duped
(d) No error

Answer(b) that the ignorant

An error-spotting item in which the fault is a single function word, the same scale of decision as choosing between amid and among.

EPFO_APFC_2016_Q7

Consider the sentence : 'The teacher gave me the book'. 1 2 3 4 5 6 where the words are numbered for convenience of reference. Consider also the insertion of a single word 'only' into this sentence to indicate a desired emphasis. Where shall this word be inserted if the emphasis is to be (i) On the recipient (ii) On the uniqueness of the item given (iii) On the giver respectively (only one at a time) ?

(a) (i) Between 3-4; (ii) After 6; (iii) Between 2-3
(b) (i) Between 3-4; (ii) Between 5-6; (iii) Before 1
(c) (i) Between 4-5; (ii) Between 3-4; (iii) After 1
(d) (i) Between 2-3; (ii) Between 4-5; (iii) Between 1-2

Answer(b) (i) Between 3-4; (ii) Between 5-6; (iii) Before 1

Asks where a word may be inserted in a numbered sentence - a structural judgement of the kind that preposition items also require.

EPFO_EOAO_2017_Q8

Which one of the following parts of the sentence, “After a lot of argument I brought him forward to my point of view”, has an error?

(a) After a lot of argument
(b) I brought him forward
(c) to my point of view
(d) No error

Answer(b) I brought him forward

'I brought him forward to my point of view' - an item on the particle a verb takes, the neighbouring topic in the same family of usage points.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
In which one of the following sentences is the preposition used correctly ?
- (a)The relief team worked among the debris for three days
- (b)The file was found amid the papers on the shelf
- (c)The Minister spoke amid mounting criticism from the opposition
- (d)There was little to choose amidst the four candidates
Answer(c) The Minister spoke amid mounting criticism from the opposition - criticism is uncountable, which is what amid requires. (a) and (b) place a countable plural after amid or an uncountable mass after among, and (d) needs 'among' or 'between' for four counted candidates.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following statements about 'amongst' is correct ?
- (a)It is an error and should always be replaced by 'among'
- (b)It is a standard variant of 'among', somewhat more formal and more common in British English
- (c)It means the opposite of 'among'
- (d)It may be used only before uncountable nouns
Answer(b) It is a standard variant of 'among', somewhat more formal and more common in British English - the two forms share a meaning and differ only in register and frequency. The countability rule in (d) applies to amid and amidst, not to among and amongst.

Why