The most important IITM qualifier English important questions come from five blocks that appear in every English I qualifier paper: a reading comprehension passage, a five-blank telephone conversation, a five-item word-matching question, sound questions (vowels, diphthongs, semi-vowels), and short grammar items (articles, prepositions, parts of speech). These five blocks cover almost all the marks. Below we show the numbers from four real papers, solve real questions with the official answers, and link to every paper and topic sheet so you can practise.
The data comes from the four official English I qualifier papers on BTechi: May 2023, September 2023, January 2024 and May 2024. Together they have 150 questions, each with the official answer key. You can download each paper as a free English 1 qualifier PYQ PDF.
If you are new to the qualifier, read our IITM BS qualifier exam guide first for the process, fees and cut-offs.
Why English I needs real preparation#
The qualifier tests four courses: Maths I, Stats I, Computational Thinking and English I. A General-category candidate needs at least 40% in every course and at least 50% on average (official admissions page). So English is not a "free" course. A low English score can fail you even if your Maths is excellent.
Many people skip English because they speak it well. Then they meet questions on diphthongs, semi-vowels and separable phrasal verbs, which school never taught. The good news: these question types repeat a lot, so a few weeks of focused practice is enough.
The English I qualifier syllabus is the first four weeks of the course (official course page):
- Sounds and pronunciation
- Parts of speech and grammar
- Vocabulary and usage
- Reading comprehension
English I qualifier papers and practice links#
You can also start a qualifier-only drill from English I qualifier practice, or see every English I paper on the English I PYQ page.
The most important English topics in the qualifier#
BTechi tags every English I question by topic. We filtered the tags to the four qualifier papers only. Here is how the 150 qualifier questions split:
Each topic sheet collects questions from all English I papers on BTechi, not only the qualifier. That is useful: the quiz and end-term papers give you more practice of the same kind.
Most repeated English question types#
Across all 410 English I questions on BTechi (qualifier, quiz and end term), these are the question types that repeat most:
All of these are on one printable page: the English I most repeated questions sheet. If you only print one sheet, print that one.
How one English qualifier paper is built#
Every English qualifier paper follows almost the same plan. Here are the marks per block, counted by hand from the four papers:
Three things stand out:
- Reading is worth the most. In the 2024 papers it is 20 of 50 marks, which is 40% of the paper. Reading questions are 2 marks each; almost everything else is 1 mark.
- The telephone block never misses. All four papers have exactly five telephone-blank questions.
- The matching block never misses. All four papers have five matching items: collocations in May 2023, September 2023 and May 2024, and synonyms in January 2024.
Solved IITM qualifier English questions#
Every answer below matches the official answer key in the paper data.
1. Telephone conversation (May 2023)#
Harilal: Hello! Is this Nirjeevani Hospital?
Receptionist: Yes. (i) ______
Harilal: I wanted to know if Dr. Arundhati will be available for consultation.
Receptionist: Yes Ma'am. (ii) ______ book an appointment?
Receptionist: Please tell me your name and age. Hello! (iii) ______ (the call gets disconnected)
Harilal: The call got (iv) ______. My name is Harilal Khan and I am 35 years old.
Receptionist: Could you please (v) ______
The method: read the line after the blank. In (v), Harilal simply repeats his name and age, so the receptionist did not hear him. "Speak up" fits; "speak out" means to say an opinion in public.
2. Collocation matching (May 2024)#
Match Column A with Column B: Bank, Strong, Lazy, Short, Ancient with Temper, Account, Ruins, Afternoon, Coffee.
- Bank → account
- Strong → coffee
- Lazy → afternoon
- Short → temper
- Ancient → ruins
Earlier papers used the same format. May 2023: land acquisition, moral decay, final blow, weather forecast, unanimous decision. September 2023: sports equipment, library card, garden hose, job offer, fishing rod.
Match in two passes. First lock the pairs you are sure about. Then the last one or two fall into place.
3. Synonym matching (January 2024)#
Match: Prove, Maladroit, Tired, Coach, Coarse with Wearied, Counsel, Gravelly, Establish, Clumsy.
- Prove → establish
- Maladroit → clumsy
- Tired → wearied
- Coach → counsel
- Coarse → gravelly
"Maladroit" is the hard word. If you do not know it, solve the other four first. Only "clumsy" is left.
4. Diphthongs and semi-vowels (2023 and 2024)#
A diphthong is a vowel sound that glides from one sound to another inside one syllable, like "oy" in boy or "ow" in shout.
- Which word has no diphthong: Snout, Stout, Sport, Shout? Answer: Sport. This exact question appeared in both September 2023 and January 2024.
- Mouth, South, Pout, Moot? Answer: Moot (May 2024). It has a long "oo", not a glide.
- Loiter, Stew, Maiden? Answer: Stew (May 2023).
- Bottle, Boycott, Bail? Answer: Both Boycott and Bail have a diphthong (May 2023).
Semi-vowel questions ask which glide sound joins two words when you speak them together. It appeared in three papers:
The rule: after a lip-rounded "oo" or "oh" sound (go, who), you hear /w/. After an "ee" sound (she, me), you hear /y/.
5. Odd one out by sound#
These questions are about sounds, not spelling.
- near, dear, tear, gear → gear (May 2024). N, d and t are made with the tongue behind the teeth; g is made at the back of the mouth.
- noun, down, town, gown → gown (January 2024), for the same reason.
- peat, beat, clear, pear → clear (May 2024). P and b are made with the lips; the "cl" sound is made at the back.
- knit, pit, kit, neat → neat (September 2023). Here the vowel is the clue: knit, pit and kit have the short "i"; neat has the long "ee". The silent k in "knit" is the trap.
- lit, mitt, knit, feet → feet (January 2024), again for the long "ee".
Practise all five types with the vowels and diphthongs topic sheet.
6. Articles, prepositions and agreement#
7. Phrasal verbs and idioms#
A phrasal verb is separable if you can put the object in the middle. Test it with "it":
- Sum up → "sum it up" works, so it is separable. It was the answer in January 2024 (other options: live on, see about, take after).
- Call by → separable. It was the answer in May 2024 (other options: hit on, keep at, stand for).
- Come across → "come it across" is wrong, so it is inseparable (May 2023).
Idioms that have been asked in the qualifier: a dark horse (an unexpected winner), cut corners (do something the fastest and cheapest way), break the ice (remove the tension at a first meeting), get out of hand (become difficult to control), cost an arm and a leg (be very expensive), keep someone in the loop (keep them updated). Collect more from the phrasal verbs and idioms topic sheet.
8. Reading comprehension (May 2023)#
The May 2023 passage is about happiness. One line says: "Simple living encourages high thinking. It leads to contentment. Contentment gives us inner wealth."
Which is the correct chain leading to happiness? Answer: simple living, high thinking, contentment, inner wealth. Every wrong option uses the same four words in a different order. So underline the linking words (encourages, leads to, gives) and follow them.
Which statement is NOT TRUE? The options include "Renunciation is the result of perfect happiness." The passage says the secret of perfect happiness lies in renunciation. So renunciation is the cause, not the result. This option is the answer.
Reading questions are 2 marks each, so they deserve your calmest time. Read the questions first, then the passage, and mark where each answer is. Practise with the reading comprehension topic sheet.
Common traps in English I#
- Spelling instead of sound. "Knit" starts with an n sound. "Hour" starts with a vowel sound, so it is "an hour".
- Look-alike words. Weak/week, weather/wether/whether, effected/affected, to/two/too have all been asked. A wether is a male sheep, which is why "The ___ was unsold in the auction" takes wether (September 2023).
- Abstract or collective? "Parliament" is not an abstract noun (May 2023). It is a group of people.
- Multiple-select parts of speech. "Rinku reads quite clearly": both quite and clearly are adverbs (September 2023). "Shraddha is a brilliant student": both Shraddha and student are nouns (January 2024).
- Your opinion versus the passage. In reading questions, the answer must come from the text, even if you disagree.
A 4-week practice plan for English I#
- Week 1: sounds. Learn the vowel and diphthong chart from our English I cheat notes. Do the vowel and diphthong topic sheet.
- Week 2: grammar. Do the prepositions and articles sheet and the parts of speech sheet. Write the rule next to every mistake.
- Week 3: vocabulary and phone calls. Do the vocabulary and collocations sheet and the telephone conversations sheet. Then sit the May 2023 and September 2023 papers untimed.
- Week 4: timed papers. Sit January 2024 under a timer, then the full May 2024 qualifier paper with all four courses. Finish with the most repeated questions sheet.
For more practice, use the full course papers: English I Quiz 1 October 2025, Quiz 2 August 2025, and the end terms of December 2024, April 2025 and August 2025. For full four-course practice, try the May 2023, September 2023 and January 2024 qualifier papers, and BTechi's mock qualifier 1 and mock 2.
Download IITM qualifier English PYQ PDF with answer key#
- Open the question sheet of the paper you want (links below).
- Click the Save PDF button at the top of the sheet. You can also press P on your keyboard.
- In the print window, choose Save as PDF as the destination, then save.
The PDF has every question and figure, and the official answer key at the end. It is free. Print it, or keep it on your phone or tablet.
Want only the important questions as one PDF? Save the English 1 most repeated questions PDF. Each full qualifier paper as a PDF:
- English 1 qualifier May 2024 PDF with answer key
- English 1 qualifier January 2024 PDF with answer key
- English 1 qualifier September 2023 PDF with answer key
- English 1 qualifier May 2023 PDF with answer key
Year-wise English I PYQ PDF sheets#
Want one IITM qualifier English PYQ PDF per year? Open a year sheet and click Save PDF:
- English I 2023 question sheet
- English I 2024 question sheet
- English I 2025 question sheet
- All English I sheets, including the writing, letters and articles sheet for the later course
Related guides for the other qualifier courses#
- IITM qualifier Computational Thinking PYQ guide
- IITM qualifier Maths important questions
- IITM qualifier Stats important questions
- Every IITM qualifier previous year paper with answer key
Applying for the January 2027 batch? Applications close on 29 January 2027. See our IIT Madras BS admission guide for January 2027 and the official IIT Madras BS Data Science site.
Frequently asked questions#
What are the most important questions for the IITM qualifier English exam?#
Reading comprehension, the five-blank telephone conversation, five-item collocation or synonym matching, vowel and diphthong questions, and short grammar items on articles, prepositions and parts of speech. In the four qualifier papers, these blocks cover almost every mark.
Where can I download the IITM qualifier English important questions PDF?#
On BTechi, for free. Open any English I question sheet, click Save PDF (or press P) and choose Save as PDF. For the important questions only, save the English I most repeated questions sheet as a PDF.
Do English qualifier questions repeat?#
Yes. The question "Which word has no diphthong: Snout, Stout, Sport, Shout?" appeared in both September 2023 and January 2024. Semi-vowel questions appeared in three papers, and every paper has a telephone conversation and a matching question.
How many questions are in the English I qualifier paper?#
The papers on BTechi have 35 to 40 questions worth 40 or 50 marks. These counts leave out the listening questions, because the official papers do not include the audio.
Is English I hard in the IITM BS qualifier?#
Most questions are short and 1 mark each. The hard parts are phonetics (sounds) and idioms, which most schools do not teach. With 15 to 20 minutes of daily practice for four weeks, most students can clear 40% comfortably.
How should I prepare for reading comprehension in the qualifier?#
Read the questions first, then the passage. Mark where each answer is in the text. Watch for options that use the right words in the wrong order, and for options that swap cause and effect.
What is the cut-off for English in the IITM qualifier?#
For the General category, you need at least 40% in English I and at least 50% average across all four courses. OBC-NCL and EWS candidates need 35% and 45%; SC, ST and PwD candidates need 30% and 40%. Check the official admissions page for your batch.