Spelling Test Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The error is in "righteceous cause". The correct spelling is righteous, with no c before eous. "The press" and "afraid of" are correctly spelled, and supporting is also spelled correctly. So the option containing the spelling error is the last one. In the spelling righteous, the letters are r-i-g-h-t-e-o-u-s, with no extra c between the t and the e. The printed word has this extra letter, so the option containing it has the spelling error, and the other options are correctly spelled English words.

Answer: A

The correct spelling is Argument, option (A). The other forms, Arguement, Aregument and Argumant, are wrong. A common slip is to keep the e of the verb argue before the suffix, as in arguement, but the final e of argue is dropped when the suffix ment is added, so the noun is spelt argument. The same rule applies to a few other words such as judgment in some spellings, which also drop the e before the ending, and it is a regular point in spelling tests.

Answer: D

Only the fourth sentence has no spelling error: 'turmeric', 'ingredient', 'supplement' and 'side effects' are all spelt correctly. The first sentence has 'suplement' and 'side affects'. The second has 'turmerric' and 'suppliment'. The third has 'turrmeric', 'ingredeint' and 'side affects'. Each of those three contains at least one misspelling. A quick way to see this is that the spelling pairs effect and affect, and supplement and suplement, are the points on which the other three sentences go wrong.

Answer: B

The correct spelling is Manageable.

The word is manage plus the suffix -able. Normally a final silent e is dropped before a suffix starting with a vowel, but after a soft g (or soft c) the e is kept, so that the g stays soft, as in changeable, knowledgeable and noticeable.

'Managable' drops the e that keeps the g soft. 'Mangaeble' transposes letters, and 'Managible' uses the wrong suffix vowel as well as dropping the e.

Answer: C

The misspelled word is rediculous; the correct spelling is ridiculous.

The word comes from the Latin ridiculus, from ridere, to laugh, which is why it begins ri-, as in ridicule. The mistake 're-' comes from the way the first vowel is often pronounced.

The other three are correct. Diphtheria keeps its silent-looking ph after the d. Grandeur ends in -eur, as in amateur. License is the American spelling of the noun and the standard spelling of the verb in British English (the British noun is licence), so it is not a misspelling.

Answer: B

The correctly spelt word is Venerable.

Venerable, meaning worthy of great respect because of age or character, comes from the Latin venerari, to revere, and is spelt v-e-n-e-r-a-b-l-e, like the verb venerate.

Venirable changes the second vowel to i. Venerabel reverses the ending to -bel, which English does not use for this suffix. Venarable changes the second e to a. Remembering venerate fixes the first part, and the usual -able fixes the ending.

Answer: C

The correctly spelt word is Millennium.

Millennium, a period of a thousand years, comes from Latin mille (thousand) and annus (year). It therefore has a double l from mille and a double n from annus: mi-ll-e-nn-ium.

Milennium drops one l, Millenium drops one n (the most common misspelling), and Millenniam changes the ending -ium to -iam.

Answer: A

The correctly spelt word is Harangue.

A harangue is a long, loud, aggressive speech, and to harangue is to address someone in that way. Like tongue and league, the word ends in a silent -ue after the g, which keeps the g hard.

Harangu drops the final e, Harangeu reverses the last two letters, and Herangue changes the first vowel. None of these is an English word.

Answer: A

The study of the pronunciation of words is called Orthoepy.

Orthoepy, from the Greek for "correct speech", is the study of the correct or accepted pronunciation of the words of a language, the kind of guidance a pronouncing dictionary gives.

Phonetics is the wider science of speech sounds in general, how they are produced and perceived, not the pronunciation of particular words. Voice and speech are general terms, not names of a field of study.

Answer: A

It is abbreviate.

Two b's and one t: the word comes from the Latin brevis, short, with the prefix ad- assimilated to ab-, which is where the doubled b comes from. It means to shorten.