ICSE Class 10 English Language — Important Questions
Question types and patterns from official CISCE board papers 2023, 2024, and 2025. Every topic below has appeared in at least one recent board examination.
All 5 Questions are Compulsory
Paper 1: English Language (2 hours, 80 marks). All questions must be attempted.
Question 1 — Composition (24 marks)
Compulsory every year- ·Descriptive, narrative, argumentative, or expository essays (300–350 words)
- ·Topics varied: may be based on language prompt or picture/stimulus
- ·Marks for: organisation, coherence, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation
Question 2 — Letter Writing (12 marks)
Compulsory every year- ·Formal letter: complaint, request, application; friendly letter: personal narrative, invitation
- ·Marks for: correct format (address, date, salutation, body, closing), tone, relevant content
Question 3 — Notice and E-mail (8 marks)
Compulsory every year- ·Notice: heading, issuing authority, date, body, name/designation; typically 60–80 words
- ·E-mail: same content as notice in e-mail format (subject line, salutation, body, sign-off)
Question 4 — Comprehension (18 marks)
Compulsory every year- ·Unseen prose passage (~500 words): vocabulary question (words in context)
- ·Short answer questions testing explicit comprehension and inference
- ·Summary question: extract main points and rewrite in specified length
Question 5 — Grammar (18 marks)
Compulsory every year- ·Prepositions, conjunctions, verbs (tense, subject-verb agreement)
- ·Sentence transformation (active/passive, direct/indirect speech, degrees of comparison)
- ·Error correction; fill in blanks with correct form of word
Source: All patterns derived from official CISCE ICSE Class 10 board examination papers (2023, 2024, 2025) downloaded from cisce.org. For the actual question papers, view the English Language Previous Year Papers.