GPSC Mains: Gujarati Language (qualifying)
About this paper
Gujarati Language is Paper I of the GPSC Main Examination. It is a qualifying paper: a candidate must get at least 25% of its marks, but the marks are not added to the total used for the merit list.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stage | Main Examination (written), Paper I |
| Marks | 300 |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Type | Descriptive; the grammar part is multiple choice on an OMR sheet |
| Medium | Gujarati only |
| Status | Qualifying: minimum 25% (75 of 300); not counted for merit |
- Qualifying only. The Commission's scheme calls the paper "Qualifying only with minimum 25% marks". The advertisement adds that getting at least 25% in each of the two language papers is compulsory, and a candidate who does not is not considered for the rest of the process.
- Not in the merit total. The 1,400 marks for final selection are Papers III to VII (1,250) and the Personality Test (150); Papers I and II are not part of them.
- Standard. The advertisement says the paper is of the standard of the Gujarati subject (higher level) of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.
- Negative marking. Only in the grammar part: 20 multiple-choice questions answered on an OMR sheet. A wrong answer, more than one answer to a question, or no option encoded costs 0.6 marks.
- Attendance. A candidate absent from any paper of the Main Examination is not eligible, so this paper must be taken even though it does not count for merit.
Official syllabus
The Commission prints this paper's syllabus in Gujarati, in the English version of the syllabus as well. Its words, with the marks allotted to each item in brackets:
પ્રશ્નપત્ર - ૧ : ગુજરાતી (મુખ્ય પરીક્ષા). ગુણ-300. માધ્યમ: ગુજરાતી. સમય: 3 કલાક.
- 1. નિબંધ: પાંચ પૈકી કોઈપણ એક. (આશરે ૨૫૦ થી ૩૦૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૪૦ ગુણ)
- 2. વિચાર વિસ્તાર (ત્રણ પૈકી કોઇપણ બે) કાવ્ય પંક્તિઓ કે ગદ્યસૂક્તિનો વિચાર વિસ્તાર. (આશરે ૧૦૦ થી ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 3. ઔપચારિક ઉદબોધન તૈયાર કરવા. (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 4. પ્રચાર માધ્યમો માટે નિવેદનો તૈયાર કરવા. (આશરે ૧૦૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 5. પત્ર લેખન. (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 6. ચર્ચાપત્ર. (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 7. અહેવાલ લેખન. (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 8. સંવાદ લેખન. (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 9. ભાષાંતર: અંગ્રેજીમાંથી ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદ-1 (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 10. ભાષાંતર: અંગ્રેજીમાંથી ગુજરાતીમાં અનુવાદ-2 (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 11. બેઠકની કાર્યવાહી નોંધ (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 12. અરજી લેખન (આશરે ૧૫૦ શબ્દોમાં) (૨૦ ગુણ)
- 13. ગુજરાતી વ્યાકરણ. (૪૦ ગુણ)
નોંધ: કુલ ૨૦ બહુવિકલ્પી પ્રશ્નો પુછવામાં આવશે. કોમ્પ્યુટરાઇઝ્ડ ખાસ પ્રકારની જવાબવહી (OMR Answer sheet) માં પ્રત્યેક ખોટા જવાબ તથા એક જ પ્રશ્ન માટે એકથી વધુ જવાબ અને એક પણ વિકલ્પ એનકોડ નહીં કરવાના કિસ્સામાં ૦.૬ (છ દશાંશ) ગુણ કાપવામાં આવશે.
The items in English
An English rendering of the same list, for reference (the Gujarati above is the official text):
| No. | What is asked | Length (about) | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essay: any one of five topics | 250 to 300 words | 40 |
| 2 | Expansion of ideas (vichar vistar) of lines of poetry or a prose maxim: any two of three | 100 to 150 words | 20 |
| 3 | Preparing a formal address (speech) | 150 words | 20 |
| 4 | Preparing statements for the media | 100 words | 20 |
| 5 | Letter writing | 150 words | 20 |
| 6 | Letter for publication in a newspaper (charchapatra) | 150 words | 20 |
| 7 | Report writing | 150 words | 20 |
| 8 | Dialogue writing | 150 words | 20 |
| 9 | Translation from English into Gujarati, 1 | 20 | |
| 10 | Translation from English into Gujarati, 2 | 20 | |
| 11 | Minutes of the proceedings of a meeting | 150 words | 20 |
| 12 | Application writing | 150 words | 20 |
| 13 | Gujarati grammar (20 multiple-choice questions) | 40 |
Subject-wise breakdown
- Essay and Expansion of Ideas: items 1 and 2 (60 marks), the essay of 250 to 300 words and vichar vistar.
- Formal and Official Writing: items 3 to 8, 11 and 12 (160 marks): address, media statement, letter, charchapatra, report, dialogue, minutes and application.
- Translation from English into Gujarati: items 9 and 10 (40 marks).
- Gujarati Grammar: item 13 (40 marks), the multiple-choice part with negative marking.
How this paper connects
- Its partner is the English Language paper, also qualifying with a 25% minimum; its translation item runs the other way, from Gujarati into English.
- A candidate may choose Gujarati as the language for the Essay and the General Studies papers; the writing practised here then carries straight into the papers that count for merit.
Source: Gujarat Public Service Commission, Syllabus of Main Examination, Advertisement No. 05/2026-27, PDF; and Detailed Advertisement No. 05/2026-27, PDF. Last checked 11 November 2026.