SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 10 September 2024, Shift 3 · English Comprehension · Question 13 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the correctly spelt word to fill in the blank. The transistors are used as the main _________, which are built into computer chips.

(a)cumponents
(b)components
(c)kamponents
(d)kumponents

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Nothing in the sentence decides this. All four options are the same word, and only the spelling differs, so the trigger is the word's build.

The word is Latin com- (together) plus ponere (to place) — the same pieces as compose, compound and postpone. English writes that prefix with a c and keeps its o: com-po-nent.

Each wrong option swaps the c for a k, the o for a u, or both. Option (b), components, is the only spelling that leaves the prefix intact.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
cumponents — cum- is not the English form of this prefix. The Latin com- keeps its o in compose, compound and companion, and it does so here.
(c)
kamponents — Two slips in one word: a k for the c, and an a for the o of com-. English does not begin this prefix with k.
(d)
kumponents — The phonetic spelling — k for the /k/ sound and u for an unstressed o. It is how the word sounds, which is exactly what a spelling item is built to catch.

Concept

SSC spelling items are usually one root wearing four coats. The reliable move is to rebuild the word from its parts instead of picking the shape that looks familiar.

Component is com- plus ponere, to place together, which is also what a component does: it is one of the things placed together to make a whole.

The prefix com- changes shape before certain letters — con- in connect, col- in collect, cor- in correct, co- in cooperate — but it never takes a k.

Meaning does no work in this item. The sentence would accept any of the four if spelling were not the point, so reading the sentence twice is wasted time.

Check the prefix, then the vowel, and move on.

Key facts

Component is Latin com- (together) plus ponere (to place), the same root as compose and postpone.
The prefix com- assimilates to con-, col-, cor- and co- before certain letters, but never to a k form.
Before o and u, English normally writes the /k/ sound as c: colour, cut, compose.

Study next

The Latin prefix com- and its assimilated forms con-, col-, cor-, co-Spelling sets where the four options differ by a single letterWords from ponere: compose, opponent, postpone, exponent

Common traps

Spelling by sound, since kamponents and kumponents are both phonetically plausible.
Skimming the list and reading cumponents as components at a glance.
Hunting the sentence for a grammar clue when the item tests orthography only.

SSC asks spelling in both directions — pick the correctly spelt word, and pick the incorrectly spelt one.

Both framings appear in this shift: also 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.15, which asks for the INCORRECTLY spelt word and keys Verifibility.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.