Start here · the first lesson of Pick the sentence that uses the word wrongly (Indore format)
Pick the sentence that uses the word wrongly (Indore format)
Word Usage · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
Indore set 5-6 of these every year from 2019 to 2024 (33 located): one word appears in four sentences and one sentence uses it wrongly. Usually the wrong sentence wanted a different word that sounds or looks the same (a homophone such as cord for chord, or a look-alike such as flout for flaunt). Less often the spelling is right but the sense is wrong (a "spot" on a career, jokes that are "cross"), or the word class is wrong (critic for critique). The section was dropped in 2025-26 but could return; the same pairs also appear in FIB and sentence correction.
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
Read the four sentences and choose the one that sounds odd.
Exam method
- Name the meanings. of the word you know (cord = rope, umbilical cord, measure of wood).
- Test each sentence. which meaning does it need? If none of the word's meanings fits, the writer meant another word. Say that word to yourself (chord, tide, flaunt).
- Check the word class. does the slot need a verb, a noun, an adjective?
- Do not punish rare senses. "A cord of wood", "the Bar", "a stay order", "train of thought" are correct.
- Ignore unrelated slips. elsewhere in a sentence; the question is only about the word.