A. India is counted among the largest English-speaking communities in the world.
✅ True
India has one of the largest populations of English speakers, though the majority use it as a second or third language.
Even though only a small percentage are fully fluent, the absolute numbers are massive because of India’s population.
Supported by census data and linguistics research.
B. No group, community or population of Indians claims English as its mother tongue.
❌ False
While it’s rare, there are small groups (particularly in some urban, Anglo-Indian, and elite families) where English is the first and only language spoken at home.
Thus, saying “No group at all” is factually incorrect.
C. More than fifty per cent of Indians speak English fluently.
❌ False
Census and survey data show only around 10–14% of Indians claim to speak English, and an even smaller fraction are fluent.
“More than 50%” is a gross overestimate.
D. English is the country’s principal language of commerce.
✅ True
English is widely used in corporate sectors, trade, technology, law, higher education, and official communications, especially in business transactions.
It has a de facto status as the main language of commerce in India.
E. With the growing stature of Hindi as lingua franca, it has supplanted English as the link language between the central government and the states.
❌ False
Hindi is not universally accepted across all states (e.g., southern and northeastern states strongly prefer English).
English continues to be a major link language between the central government and non-Hindi speaking states.
Year-wise PYQs
