Fill in the blank with the appropriate case marker— 'Due to continuous rain, the crop __ suffers heavy damage.'

Appeared in: DSSSB 12 August 2024

Explanation

This question is a direct translation from Hindi, testing knowledge of Hindi grammar (Karak) rather than English.
The original Hindi sentence is 'फसल को भारी नुकसान होता है' (fasal ko bhaari nuksaan hota hai).
In this structure, 'को' (ko) is the dative case marker indicating that the 'crop' (फसल) is the recipient of the damage.
The blank in the English sentence corresponds to the position of this Hindi case marker.

Option A: This is an English preposition of place. The crop is not 'on' the damage.
Option B: This is a demonstrative pronoun used for plural nouns. It does not function as a case marker and is grammatically incorrect in this context.
Option D: This is an English preposition typically used to show possession or relation. The crop does not possess the damage in this way.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Hindi Case Markers (Karak) in English Translation as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
While not a clinical question, this tests a crucial skill for Indian competitive exams: recognizing translation artifacts.
Nursing and other professional entrance exams in India often include a General English or reasoning section where such questions, based on Hindi or regional language grammar, may appear.
What if the question was 'The book is __ the table'? In that case, 'on' would be the correct English preposition, and the question would be a straightforward test of English grammar, not a translation puzzle.

How to Approach the Question

First, read the sentence: 'Due to continuous rain, the crop __ suffers heavy damage.' Notice that the sentence is grammatically sound in English even without filling the blank.
Next, examine the options: 'on', 'these', 'ko', 'of'. Immediately identify 'ko' as an outlier because it is not an English word.
Recognize that the presence of a non-English word and the phrase 'case marker' strongly suggests the question is a direct translation from another language, likely Hindi.
Mentally translate the sentence into Hindi: 'Lagaataar baarish ke kaaran, fasal ko bhaari nuksaan hota hai.'
Identify that 'ko' is the case marker used with 'fasal' (crop) in the Hindi sentence to indicate it is the object receiving the damage.
Conclude that 'ko' is the intended answer for the blank, which represents the position of the case marker in the original Hindi sentence.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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Practise the full DSSSB 12 August 2024

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.