SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 16 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 17 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.

Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence: Neither of the options are suitable for this task.

(a)is suitable to the task
(b)is suitable for this task
(c)were suitable in this task
(d)is suitable at this task

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The highlighted part is are suitable for this task. The subject is Neither, not options. Of the options merely names the group. Neither means not either one, so it is singular and takes is.

Suitable names a purpose with for: suitable for this task.

Is suitable for this task fixes the verb and keeps the rest of the highlighted part → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
is suitable to the task — is suitable to the task fixes the verb but also changes this to the and for to to. The standard pairing for a purpose is suitable for, and a replacement should fix the error, not rewrite the phrase.
(c)
were suitable in this task — were suitable in this task keeps a plural verb after neither, so the agreement error stays. Suitable in is also not the pairing for a purpose.
(d)
is suitable at this task — is suitable at this task fixes the verb but uses at. At goes with skill (good at a task); suitable takes for.

Concept

Neither, either and each pick out members of a group one at a time. When one of them heads the subject, the of-phrase after it names the group but does not set the verb's number: Neither of the options is suitable, Each of the members was present.

Contrast neither … nor, where the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the manager nor the clerks were present.

In informal English a plural verb after neither of + plural noun is common. Formal writing, and this question's key, take the singular.

Key facts

Neither of + plural noun takes a singular verb: Neither of the options is suitable.
Each of + plural noun also takes a singular verb: Each of the members was present.
Neither X nor Y: the verb agrees with Y, the nearer subject.
Suitable for + purpose: suitable for this task.

Study next

Agreement with each, either, neither and everyNeither … nor and either … or: the proximity ruleAdjective + preposition pairs: suitable for, good at, capable of

Common traps

Letting the plural options, right before the verb, set its number. The head of the subject is neither.
Stopping once the verb reads is. Check the preposition after suitable too.

The same rule decides 19 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.12: Each of the committee members / were obligated, keyed as the error at part (2), because each, like neither, takes a singular verb.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Sentence improvement — all 133 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.