SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 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.

We doubt SSC's key on this question.

Oxford Learner's Dictionary gives both 'angry with' and 'angry at' somebody, so option (a) is also correct English; the key takes 'with'.

The answer below is still the option SSC's key marks, and we solve to that option.

Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence: The manager is angry on the clerk.

(a)is angry at
(b)is annoyed by
(c)is angry with
(d)is angry over

Answer

Why

Correct — C.
The fault is the preposition on: angry does not take it.

With a person as the object, angry takes with (at is also used). "The manager is angry with the clerk" repairs the sentence without changing anything else, and it is the pairing the key takes: option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
is angry at — is angry at is also used with a person, so it is not ungrammatical. The key prefers with, which marks a person, while at also serves situations (angry at what he said).
(b)
is annoyed by — is annoyed by swaps the adjective. The sentence only needs its preposition fixed, and annoyed is a milder feeling than angry.
(d)
is angry over — is angry over introduces the cause of the anger, an issue such as a delay or a decision, not the person the anger is aimed at.

Concept

Adjectives of feeling choose their preposition by what follows. angry with or at a person, angry about or at a situation.

When both appear, the reason takes for: "angry with the clerk for the delay". The error in the sentence is on, which angry does not take.

Wiktionary's usage note accepts both angry with and angry at for a person, so option (a) is defensible English. With is the one of the two that points only at the person, and the key follows it.

Key facts

angry with or at + a person: angry with the clerk.
angry at or about + a situation: angry about the delay.
angry with + person + for + reason: angry with him for the delay.

Study next

Adjective + preposition pairs: good at, afraid of, confident ofannoyed with, annoyed at and annoyed byPrepositions of cause: for, over, about

Common traps

Stopping at "is angry at" without checking whether the more exact "angry with" is on offer
Choosing "is annoyed by" because it sounds polite, though it changes the adjective

The same format tests a fixed preposition at 16 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.20 (good in mathematics → good at) and 20 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.21 (object for → object to).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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