SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 25 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 5 of 99

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 10 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 most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. Ashoka was the greatest than all the Mauryan Emperors .

(a)to other Mauryan Emperors
(b)of the Mauryan Emperors
(c)to all another Mauryan Emperors
(d)all Mauryan Emperors

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Rule: a superlative takes of, among or in — never than. Than belongs to a comparative.

The sentence keeps the greatest, which is superlative, so the group it is measured against must be introduced by of: the greatest of the Mauryan Emperors.

Option (b) supplies exactly that preposition together with the article the group needs, giving Ashoka was the greatest of the Mauryan Emperors.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
to other Mauryan Emperors — to is the wrong preposition. It follows Latin comparatives such as superior to and senior to, not an English superlative like the greatest.
(c)
to all another Mauryan Emperors — all another cannot stand, because another is singular and takes a singular noun. The preposition to is wrong here for the same reason it is wrong above.
(d)
all Mauryan Emperors — all Mauryan Emperors leaves no preposition at all, giving the greatest all Mauryan Emperors. A superlative has to be joined to its group by of or among.

Concept

Degree of comparison is settled by the word that links the subject to the group it is measured against.

Comparative forms — greater, more useful — take than, and the group excludes the subject: greater than the other emperors.

Superlative forms — the greatest, the most useful — take of, among or in, and the group includes the subject: the greatest of the emperors.

The stem mixes the two, pairing the superlative the greatest with than. Repairing it means changing either the preposition or the adjective, and only the preposition sits inside the underlined segment.

The stem prints a space before its full stop, where the underline ends. Read the segment as than all the Mauryan Emperors — that is the stretch the options replace.

Key facts

Comparative adjectives take than: Ashoka was greater than the other emperors.
Superlative adjectives take of, among or in: the greatest of the emperors.
A superlative includes the subject within its group, while a comparative excludes it.

Study next

Latin comparatives that take to rather than than: superior, inferior, senior, junior, priorConverting a sentence between the three degrees without changing its meaningDouble comparatives and double superlatives, such as more better and most greatest

Common traps

Keeping than because the sentence sounds fluent when read at speed
Choosing option (d) because all Mauryan Emperors looks like the phrase being replaced, and missing that the preposition has gone

SSC underlines the comparison phrase and leaves the adjective outside it, so the repair has to come from the preposition rather than from the adjective. A neighbouring degree-of-comparison item is asked 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.16, where no good than a foolish person is corrected to no better.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.