SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 55

Correct Answer

higher

Explanation

The question asks you to choose the correct degree of the adjective "high" to complete the sentence.

Let's look at the clue in the sentence:

"This mountain is ___ than the one we climbed last year."

The word "than" is the primary structural indicator used in English grammar to show a comparison between exactly two entities (this mountain versus last year's mountain). When comparing two things, you must use the comparative degree of an adjective.

Let's evaluate the options based on the rules for degrees of comparison:

High is the positive degree. It is used to describe a single object without comparing it to anything else, such as "This is a high mountain."

Higher is the comparative degree. For short, single-syllable adjectives like "high," the comparative degree is formed by simply adding the suffix "-er". This fits the sentence structure perfectly.

Highest is the superlative degree. It is used when comparing three or more things to show which one possesses the highest quality of all, such as "This is the highest mountain in the world." It usually requires the definite article "the" before it.

More high is grammatically incorrect. The modifier "more" is only used for longer adjectives with two or more syllables, like "more beautiful" or "more difficult". You should never use "more" with single-syllable adjectives that can take the "-er" suffix.

Because the sentence explicitly compares two mountains using the keyword "than," Option 2 is the grammatically correct choice.

Key Points

To ace adjective questions on competitive exams, remember a quick formula: if you see "than" right after the blank, pick the comparative form ending in "-er" or preceded by "more". If you see "the" right before the blank, pick the superlative form ending in "-est" or preceded by "most".