Para Jumbles & Sentence Fillers: Crack the Order, Fill the Blank

Q: Pick the pair that best fills both blanks: 'The new policy will ____ the burden on small farmers and ____ them to invest in better seeds.'

The policy is meant to help small farmers, so the tone is positive and the two ideas support each other. 'reduce the burden' and 'enable them to invest' both fit that helpful, cause-and-effect flow. 'prevent them to invest' is negative and grammatically wrong (it would need 'prevent... from'), while 'increase/raise the burden' contradicts a policy designed to help. So 'reduce... enable' is correct.

A from-scratch guide to two easy-scoring English topics in IBPS and SBI PO/Clerk exams. Learn how connectors and pronouns reveal the correct sentence order, how to solve single and double fillers, and the elimination shortcuts that save precious prelims seconds.

By the PadhoDost Team · 📖 7 min read · Updated 4 August 2026

Part of Banking (IBPS / SBI) prep

🧠 The shuffled photo album

Imagine your cousin sends you 5 photos from a wedding, but WhatsApp delivers them in a jumbled order. You still work out the real sequence in seconds - the 'guests arriving' photo comes before the 'everyone eating' one, and the big group selfie is obviously last. You do this using clues inside each photo. Para jumbles are exactly the same game: the exam shuffles 4 to 6 sentences, and your job is to spot the clue words that reveal the original order. Padho, dost - once you know the clues, these questions become quick, sure marks.

Para Jumbles and Sentence Fillers are two of the most scoring topics in the English section of bank exams. They test one simple skill: do you understand how sentences connect to each other? Unlike Reading Comprehension, you do not need to read a long passage - you just need to catch small signals like 'however', 'this', 'he', or 'the'. In prelims you get roughly 30 to 40 seconds per question, so speed matters. The good news: with a clear method, most students can attempt these in well under a minute with high accuracy.

Para Jumbles: putting the story back in order

In a para jumble, 4 to 6 jumbled sentences (usually labelled A-E or P-T) form a small paragraph when arranged correctly. The exam then asks for the full order, or just one thing like 'Which sentence comes first?' or 'Which sentence is third?'. You do not need to guess randomly - every correct paragraph has a natural flow of ideas, and the sentences leave 'fingerprints' that tell you what comes before what.

The 4-step method for para jumbles

1Read all sentences once, fast, just to catch the topic or the story being told.
2Find the OPENING sentence - it introduces a full name, a place, or a general idea, and has NO connector or pronoun pointing backwards (no 'however', 'this', 'they', 'so').
3Find MANDATORY PAIRS - two sentences that must sit together: a noun and the pronoun that refers to it, a cause and its effect, or a question and its answer.
4Fix the CLOSING sentence (often has 'finally', 'today', 'thus', 'as a result'), then match your order against the four options and eliminate - do not re-read everything from scratch.

Clue in a sentence	What it signals	How to use it
Pronouns: he, she, it, they, this, these	Refers to a noun mentioned earlier	This sentence cannot be first; place it right after the noun it points to
Connectors: however, but, therefore, so	Link back to a previous idea	Cannot be the opening sentence
Articles: 'a/an' vs 'the'	'A/an' introduces a thing; 'the' points back to it	The 'a/an' sentence usually comes before the 'the' sentence
Time words: earlier, then, today, finally	Show the order of events	Arrange from past to present or future
Full name vs pronoun	A full name introduces a person; a pronoun follows	The full-name sentence comes before the pronoun sentence

📝 Worked example: arrange A-E

A. However, this changed when smartphones became affordable.

B. Earlier, only a few people in India had access to the internet.

C. They could now browse, shop and learn online.

D. Millions of new users came online within a few years.

E. Today, India has one of the largest internet user bases in the world.

Step 1 - Opening: B has no back-connector and sets the scene with 'Earlier', so B is first.

Step 2 - 'However, this changed' in A refers back to B's situation, so A follows B (pair B-A).

Step 3 - Cheaper phones caused the surge, so D ('Millions... came online') follows A (pair A-D).

Step 4 - 'They' in C = those millions of users, so C follows D (pair D-C); E ('Today...') is the conclusion.

Final order: B A D C E.

💡 Speed shortcut: do NOT solve the whole jumble from scratch. Nail just ONE strong mandatory pair - like a name followed by 'he/she', or 'a scheme' followed by 'the scheme'. Then glance at the four options; usually only one option keeps that pair together in the right order. Mark it and move on. This alone can turn a 90-second question into a 30-second one.

Sentence Fillers: single and double blanks

In fillers, a sentence has one blank (single filler) or two blanks (double filler), and you pick the word or word-pair that fits both the meaning and the grammar. The secret is TONE: is the sentence positive or negative? Is there a contrast word like 'although', 'but', 'despite' (which flips the idea) or a support word like 'and', 'because', 'therefore' (which continues it)? In double fillers, the trap is that one word may fit but its partner does not - so always test the pair together, never just one blank.

📝 Worked example: double filler

Sentence: 'Although the scheme was launched with good ____, poor planning meant very few people actually ____ from it.'

Blank 1 needs a noun (it follows 'good'); Blank 2 needs a verb (it follows 'actually ____ from it').

Read the tone: 'Although... poor planning' signals a contrast - a good start but a bad result.

Blank 1: 'intentions' fits perfectly as 'good intentions'.

Blank 2: 'benefited' fits as 'benefited from it'.

Test the pair together: 'good intentions... few people benefited' - the contrast holds. Answer: intentions, benefited.

⚠️ Mind the 0.25 negative marking. A blind guess on a 5-sentence jumble is a bad bet. But if you are sure of even one mandatory pair, you can often eliminate 2-3 options and then guess between the last two - that is a smart, calculated risk. The rule: eliminate first, then decide. Never mark an answer with zero clues in hand.

Quick revision before the exam

✓Opening sentence = no pronoun, no connector pointing back; it introduces the topic or a full name.
✓Pronouns (he/she/it/they/this) and connectors (however/so/therefore) always follow something - never first.
✓Solve one strong mandatory pair, then use the options to eliminate instead of re-reading.
✓For fillers, first decide the tone (positive/negative) and spot contrast words like although, but, despite.
✓In double fillers, always test BOTH words together before marking.
✓Practice daily - aim for 30 to 40 seconds per question so these become your fast, high-accuracy marks.

⚡ Quick check

Pick the pair that best fills both blanks: 'The new policy will ____ the burden on small farmers and ____ them to invest in better seeds.'

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