SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 8 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the correct option: The board will convene next Friday, ___ final approval is expected.

(a)at which
(b)on which
(c)when
(d)whereupon

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The blank follows a time phrase, next Friday, and opens a clause about what will happen then.

When is the relative adverb of time. It stands in for the whole time phrase and brings no preposition with it, which suits next Friday: the board convenes next Friday, not on next Friday.

'The board will convene next Friday, when final approval is expected.' → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
at which — At which would have approval expected at next Friday. Days take on, not at, and a phrase with next takes no preposition at all. Nor is there a noun such as meeting for at which to point back to.
(b)
on which — On which puts back a preposition that next Friday does not take: approval is expected next Friday, not on next Friday. On which suits a bare noun of time, as in 'the day on which the board met'.
(d)
whereupon — Whereupon means 'after which, in consequence'. It links a second event to a first ('He resigned, whereupon the board met'), not a clause to a time phrase such as next Friday.

Concept

A relative adverb does the work of a preposition plus which. When covers time, where covers place and why covers reason: the day when = the day on which, the town where = the town in which.

After a comma, when adds a non-defining clause, extra information about a time already named: 'next Friday, when final approval is expected'.

In the prepositional form, the preposition belongs to the relative clause and must suit the antecedent. A time phrase with next or last takes no preposition (next Friday, not on next Friday), so when, which needs none, is the fit here.

On which is sound formal English after a bare noun of time: 'the day on which the board met'. What tells against it here is the antecedent.

Next Friday takes no preposition, so there is nothing for on to restore, and the plain relative adverb when fits.

Key facts

When, where and why are relative adverbs for time, place and reason.
The day when = the day on which: the adverb replaces preposition + which.
At, on and in are dropped before next and last: next Friday, not on next Friday.
Whereupon means after which, or in consequence.

Study next

Relative adverbs when, where and why against preposition + whichDefining and non-defining relative clauses, and the comma that marks the differencePrepositions of time: at, on and in, and the phrases that take none

Common traps

Choosing at which by thinking of 'the meeting at which', when the sentence names only a day, and a day takes on, not at
Choosing on which because days take on, when next Friday takes no preposition at all
Choosing whereupon because it sounds formal enough for a board meeting

Relative words chosen by their antecedent are also tested at 9 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.24, where the blank after 'the ravages of smallpox,' is keyed which and when is a wrong option.

15 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.11 keys which in 'The discovery, ___ was unexpected, altered the trajectory of the entire study.'

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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