SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 9 September 2024, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 10 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 5 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 spelled sentence.

(a)I will definitely attend the conference.
(b)I will definetely attend the conference.
(c)I will definately attend the conference.
(d)I will definitly attend the conference.

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The word is built from the adjective definite plus the suffix -ly: definite + ly = definitely.

Keep the root letters intact — d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e — and the spelling settles itself. There is no letter 'a' anywhere in the word.

Only option (a) spells it that way. Every other word in the sentence is identical across the four options, so this one word decides the mark.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
I will definetely attend the conference. — 'Definetely' puts an 'e' where 'definite' has its second i. The adjective is 'definite', not 'definete', so no adverb can be built on that spelling.
(c)
I will definately attend the conference. — 'Definately' replaces that same second i with an a. The mnemonic settles it: 'definitely' contains finite — de-finite-ly — and 'finite' has no 'a'.
(d)
I will definitly attend the conference. — 'Definitly' drops the silent e of 'definite' before the suffix. English keeps that e before -ly, so the adverb is definitely, exactly as complete becomes completely.

Concept

A Tier-I spelling item varies one word across four otherwise identical sentences, so meaning gives you nothing. Find the root the word is built from, then apply the suffix rule.

Here the root is the adjective definite and the suffix is -ly. Adjectives ending in a consonant plus silent 'e' normally keep that e before -ly: definite → definitely, absolute → absolutely, complete → completely.

The standard exceptions are truly, duly, wholly, which drop or alter the silent e.

The four spellings differ only in the middle of the word, so this item is decided by careful reading rather than by vocabulary. Nothing in the sentence's meaning helps.

Key facts

Definitely = definite + ly, and there is no letter 'a' in it.
The word contains finite: de-finite-ly.
Adjectives ending in silent 'e' keep it before -ly: complete → completely, absolute → absolutely.
Truly, duly, wholly are the exceptions that drop or change the silent e.

Study next

Suffix rules for -ly, -ment and -ness on words ending in silent 'e'Doubling the final consonant before a suffix: occur → occurred, refer → referredHigh-frequency misspellings: accommodate, occurrence, embarrass, maintenance

Common traps

Scanning too fast — 'definetely' and 'definitely' differ by a single middle letter.
Choosing by how the word looks instead of checking the root 'definite' behind it.

SSC sets spelling both ways. Here the whole sentence is the option; the same shift asks for a single wrong word at English Q.6 (9 Sep 2024, 12:30), where 'Abismal' is the misspelling of 'abysmal'.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.