SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 20 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 5 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.

Which spelling is correct for a word meaning 'calm and peaceful'?

(a)Serine
(b)Serenne
(c)Serene
(d)Sereen

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The word meaning calm and peaceful is serene: s-e-r-e-n-e, with a single n and a silent final e.

Its long e sound is spelt e, consonant, e, as in scene, and the noun keeps the single n: serenity → option (c).

The word comes from Latin serēnus, clear, cloudless, untroubled.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Serine — Serine is a real word, but it names an amino acid, not a state of mind. The -ine ending makes a different word, not a spelling of serene.
(b)
Serenne — Serenne doubles the n. Serene has a single n, and so does its noun serenity.
(d)
Sereen — Sereen spells the long e as ee, as in screen. Serene spells the same sound with e, consonant, e: -ene.

Concept

A spelling item gives four versions of one word and asks which is standard. Fix the word from its meaning first: calm and peaceful is serene.

The trouble is the final syllable. English spells the long e sound in several ways, among them ee, ea and e, consonant, e. Serene takes the last.

The noun serenity is a check: one n, and the e after the r survives.

Serine is not a misspelling in the dictionary sense: it is a separate word from biochemistry. The item still marks it wrong, because it does not mean calm and peaceful.

Key facts

Serene means calm, peaceful and untroubled.
It comes from Latin serēnus, clear, cloudless, untroubled.
Its noun is serenity, spelt with one n.
Serine is a nonessential amino acid, a different word altogether.

Study next

Words spelt with e, consonant, e: supreme, obscene and extremeWords for calm: tranquil, placid and composed

Common traps

Choosing Serine because it is a real word, without checking that its meaning fits
Writing -een because the vowel sounds like the one in screen

The same stem, Which spelling is correct for a word meaning, is used at 21 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.12, where Treaty is keyed over Treety, which also spells a long e as ee.

A calm word is a spelling item at 24 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.7: calm under pressure, keyed Equanimity.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Spelling — all 118 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.