SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 15 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: She is confident to win the match.

(a)of to win
(b)that she wins
(c)of winning the match
(d)on winning match

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The trigger is the adjective confident. When it means sure that something will happen, it takes of + a noun or an -ing form: confident of success, confident of winning.

After a preposition the verb becomes a gerund, so win becomes winning, and match keeps its article the.

She is confident of winning the match → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
of to win — Of to win puts a to-infinitive straight after a preposition. After of, a verb must take the -ing form: of winning, not of to win.
(b)
that she wins — That she wins replaces the whole highlighted part, so the match drops out of the sentence: 'She is confident that she wins.' Option (c) keeps it: of winning the match.
(d)
on winning match — Confident on is not the idiom; confident takes of. The option also drops the before match, a singular countable noun that needs a determiner.

Concept

Many adjectives fix the preposition that follows them. Confident takes of or about before a result you are sure of, and in before a person or thing you trust.

After any preposition, a verb takes the -ing form: of winning, about passing.

The other correct pattern is a that-clause with its own verb: confident that she will win.

On the response sheet the highlighted part is to win the match, so each option replaces all four words.

'Confident enough to + verb' is standard when the sense is self-assurance: confident enough to speak up. This sentence is about an expected result, and that sense takes of + -ing or a that-clause.

Key facts

Confident of + noun or -ing form: sure of a result, as in confident of winning.
Confident + that-clause: she is confident that she will win.
Confident in + person or thing: trust, as in confident in her team.
After a preposition, a verb takes the -ing form.

Study next

Adjective + preposition pairs: sure of, capable of, fond of, keen onPreposition + gerund: insist on going, succeed in passingAfraid of + -ing against afraid to + verb

Common traps

Choosing 'that she wins' because a that-clause can follow confident, and missing that it replaces 'the match' along with 'to win'.
Choosing (d) for its -ing form and missing both faults: confident takes of here, not on, and match has lost its article.

The same fault is keyed at 14 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.20: 'I am confident to pass the examination' becomes 'of passing the examination'.

The correct pattern also sits inside a spelling item at 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.16: 'One must be confident of winning'.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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