Verbal Ability Reviewer (Printable PDF) - Free Printable Reviewer (Civil Service Reviewer 2027)

Question 1 (Grammar · Subject-Verb Agreement (Proximity Rule))

Neither the regional director nor the division heads _____ able to attend the emergency inter-agency coordination meeting yesterday.

was
were
is
are

Question 2 (Grammar · Collective Noun Agreement)

The panel of civil service examiners _____ unanimous in its resolution regarding the disqualification of the non-compliant examinee.

were
are
was
have been

Question 3 (Grammar · Intervening Phrases)

The municipal mayor, together with five department heads and several community leaders, _____ scheduled to inspect the newly rehabilitated evacuation center this morning.

is
are
were
have been

Question 4 (Grammar · Indefinite Pronouns)

Each of the local government units _____ required to submit an updated disaster risk reduction and management plan by the end of the quarter.

is
are
were
have been

Question 5 (Grammar · Verb Tense Consistency)

By the time the Commission on Audit (COA) releases its final annual audit report next month, the state university _____ the disputed procurement vouchers.

will liquidate
would liquidate
will have liquidated
had liquidated

Question 6 (Grammar · Subjunctive Mood)

The civil service commission chairperson recommended that the errant division supervisor _____ placed under immediate preventive suspension.

is
be
was
will be

Question 7 (Grammar · Misplaced Modifiers)

Which of the following sentences is free from dangling or misplaced modifiers?

Walking into the session hall, the gavel was struck by the Senate President.
Having audited the disbursement ledger, several discrepancy vouchers were flagged by the state auditor.
While reviewing the civil service applicant files, Attorney Morales noticed several falsified personal data sheets.
To obtain a Certificate of Eligibility, an eighty percent passing mark must be obtained by examinees.

Question 8 (Grammar · Parallelism)

The newly appointed administrative officer was tasked with reorganizing the archival files, _____ the biometric attendance system, and training the frontline staff.

to update
updating
update
having updated

Question 9 (Grammar · Pronoun Case (Compound Objects))

The CSC Regional Director granted commendation letters to both Assistant Director Santos and _____ for the successful rollout of the automated examination.

he
him
his
himself

Question 10 (Grammar · Conditional Sentences (Past Unreal))

If the local treasurer _____ the cash disbursement register daily as prescribed by the COA circular, the accounting shortfall would have been detected earlier.

reconciled
has reconciled
had reconciled
would have reconciled

Question 11 (Grammar · Idiomatic Prepositions)

In accordance _____ standard civil service rules, probationary employees are subject to continuous performance monitoring for six months.

to
with
by
for

Question 12 (Grammar · Subject-Verb Agreement (Fractions & Percentages))

Seventy percent of the municipal government's operational budget _____ earmarked for priority social services and public healthcare.

is
are
were
have been

Question 13 (Grammar · Subject-Verb Agreement (Plural Quantities as Single Unit))

Twenty-five thousand pesos _____ the maximum threshold for small-value petty cash disbursements under the agency's revised fiscal policy.

are
is
were
have been

Question 14 (Grammar · Correlative Conjunctions)

The newly promulgated administrative order applies not only to career civil servants _____ to contractual project personnel as well.

and also
as well as
but also
in addition to

Question 15 (Grammar · Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement)

Every civil service examinee must bring _____ original valid government-issued identification card and examination notice to the testing center.

their
his or her
our
its

Answer Key & Rationalizations

Item 1: B — were
Explanation: Rule of Proximity: When subjects are connected by 'neither... nor' or 'either... or', the verb must agree in number with the subject closer to it. 'Division heads' is plural and the event occurred in the past ('yesterday'), so the plural past verb 'were' is required.

Item 2: C — was
Explanation: When a collective noun ('panel', 'committee', 'board') functions as a single harmonious unit, it takes a singular verb. Here, the panel acts unanimously as one body, and the possessive pronoun 'its' confirms the singular context, making 'was' correct.

Item 3: A — is
Explanation: Intervening parenthetical phrases introduced by 'together with', 'as well as', 'in addition to', or 'accompanied by' do not alter the number of the true subject. The true subject is 'The municipal mayor' (singular), requiring the singular verb 'is'.

Item 4: A — is
Explanation: The indefinite pronoun 'Each' is singular regardless of the plural prepositional phrase that follows it ('of the local government units'). Therefore, the singular verb 'is' is grammatically correct.

Item 5: C — will have liquidated
Explanation: Future Perfect Tense: When an action will be completed before a specific future time or before another future action ('by the time... releases'), the future perfect tense ('will have liquidated') must be used.

Item 6: B — be
Explanation: The subjunctive mood is used after verbs of demand, recommendation, urgency, or mandate (recommend, insist, require, demand, request). The subjunctive form uses the base form of the verb ('be'), so 'be placed' is the correct formal usage.

Item 7: C — While reviewing the civil service applicant files, Attorney Morales noticed several falsified personal data sheets.
Explanation: In option C, the introductory participial phrase ('While reviewing the civil service applicant files') is logically and directly followed by the agent performing the action ('Attorney Morales'). In options A, B, and D, the modifying phrases incorrectly attach to 'the gavel', 'several discrepancy vouchers', and 'an eighty percent passing mark'.

Item 8: B — updating
Explanation: Parallel structure requires items in a series to share the same grammatical form. The list contains gerunds: 'reorganizing...', 'updating...', and 'training...'.

Item 9: B — him
Explanation: The preposition 'to' requires the objective pronoun case. Strip the compound element: 'granted commendation letters to him' (not 'to he'). Therefore, 'Assistant Director Santos and him' is correct.

Item 10: C — had reconciled
Explanation: Third Conditional (past hypothetical): The condition clause requires the past perfect tense ('had reconciled') when the result clause uses 'would have + past participle' ('would have been detected').

Item 11: B — with
Explanation: The standard legal and administrative idiomatic phrase is 'in accordance with' (meaning in agreement or conformity with). 'In accordance to' is a common colloquial error.

Item 12: A — is
Explanation: With fractions, percentages, and proportions, the verb agrees with the noun in the prepositional phrase ('of the... budget'). Because 'budget' is singular and non-count, the verb is singular: 'is earmarked'.

Item 13: B — is
Explanation: Quantities of money, time, distance, and weight that express a single aggregate lump-sum take a singular verb. 'Twenty-five thousand pesos' represents a single threshold amount, so 'is' is correct.

Item 14: C — but also
Explanation: The correlative conjunction pairing is 'not only... but also'. Any other combination is unidiomatic and grammatically flawed.

Item 15: B — his or her
Explanation: 'Every examinee' is singular. In formal standardized testing and traditional civil service examinations, the singular pronoun 'his or her' is grammatically prescribed to agree with the singular antecedent 'examinee'.