Discussion
Find the correctly spelt word:
Answer: B
Correct answer: Questionnaire
The correct spelling is questionnaire, with a double n. The doubling is inherited straight from French, where the word is spelt the same way and where -aire is a common noun ending. English borrowed it whole in the nineteenth century and kept both letters. Dropping one n is the usual error, because the doubling makes no difference to the pronunciation. The ending -aire rather than -air or -iere is the second trap, and the family of French borrowings that share it is worth knowing: millionaire, billionaire, doctrinaire, solitaire and concessionaire. Other French words in English that keep a doubled consonant English speakers would not supply include reconnaissance, connoisseur and personnel - the last being distinct from personal in both spelling and sense.
Post your comment
Please log in or register to post a comment.
Examination Categories
- SSC Exams
- Banking Exams
- Teaching Exams
- Civil Services Exams
- Railways Exams
- Engineering Recruitment Exams
- Defence Exams
- State Government Exams
- Police Exams
- Insurance Exams
- Nursing Exams
- Other Government Exams
- NRA CET
- PG Entrance Exams
- Campus Placement
- MBA Entrance Exams
- CUET and UG Entrance
- Judiciary Exams
- Regulatory Body Exams
- Software Development