Spelling Test Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The misspelt word is advertise, written here as 'Advurtise'.

From the Latin advertere, to turn towards. It is one of the small group of verbs always spelt -ise, never -ize.

Answer: D

The misspelt word is describe, written here as 'Discribe'.

The prefix is de-, from the Latin describere, to write down - not dis-.

Answer: B

The misspelt word is suggest, written here as 'Saggest'.

Two g's, from the Latin sub and gerere, to carry - the prefix assimilates before g.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Arguement

Arguement is the misspelling. The correct form is argument, which drops the e of argue. That is an exception to the usual rule, which keeps a silent final e before a suffix beginning with a consonant - hence achievement, management, excitement and amusement, all correctly retaining it. Judgement, the third option, is correctly spelt in British usage, which permits both judgement and judgment; the shorter form is standard in legal writing and in American English. Since both are accepted, it is not the answer. The small group that drops the e before -ment or -ly is worth memorising: argument, acknowledgment, abridgment, truly, duly and wholly. Assessment and achievement are both correct as printed.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Humourous

Humourous is the misspelling. The correct form is humorous - the u of humour is dropped when the adjective is formed. This is a real and consistent pattern in British English. The nouns keep -our, but several derived adjectives and nouns drop the u before a Latin suffix: humour gives humorous, glamour gives glamorous, vigour gives vigorous, rigour gives rigorous, labour gives laborious, and honour gives honorary and honorific. Note that the u survives before English suffixes: humourless, colourful, honourable and favourite all keep it. The rule turns on the origin of the suffix. The other three options in this question are all correctly spelt, and rigorous and vigorous illustrate the same dropping.

Answer: A

Explanation: Amateur means  one who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Liesure

Liesure is the misspelling. The correct form is leisure, with ei rather than ie. It is one of the standard exceptions to the rule i before e except after c, and the exceptions are worth learning as a group: leisure, seize, weird, foreign, neighbour, height, their, either, neither, protein and caffeine. The other three options are correctly spelt and each is French in origin. Amateur keeps the French -eur ending, and comes from the Latin amare, to love - someone who does a thing for love rather than for payment. Bureau keeps the vowel cluster eau, and gives bureaucracy. Committee doubles three letters - m, t and e - and is to be contrasted with commitment, which has only one t.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Seperate

Seperate is the misspelling. The correct form is separate, with an a in the middle. The mnemonic is that there is a rat in sepa rate; the derivation is the Latin separare, built on parare, to make ready. The other three are correctly spelt. Acquire keeps the c before the q, from the Latin prefix ad- assimilating - the same pattern as acquaint, acquit and acquiesce. Rhythm keeps the Greek rh- and contains no conventional vowel letter. Vacuum has one c and two us, from the Latin vacuus, empty - not to be confused with vaccine, which doubles the c because it comes from vacca, a cow. Separate is misspelt so persistently because its middle syllable is unstressed and reduced in speech, which gives the ear nothing to work with.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Beleive

Beleive is the misspelling. The correct form is believe, which follows the rule i before e except after c. Ceiling, the fourth option, is the other half of the same rule and is correctly spelt: the ei follows a c. The two words together make the rule easy to hold - believe with no c takes ie, ceiling with a c takes ei. The rule has many exceptions, and the common ones are worth listing: foreign, neighbour, weight, height, their, seize, weird, leisure, either, neither, protein, caffeine and species. Parallel is correctly spelt too and repays notice: one r and two ls in the middle, then a single l at the end - and the double l sits in the middle just as two parallel lines would.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Occassion

Occassion is the misspelling. The correct form is occasion - a double c but a single s. That arrangement is the reverse of what the ear expects, and it is the opposite of necessary, which has one c and two ses. Learning the two together is the most reliable way to keep them apart. The other three are correctly spelt and each has its own doubling to remember. Tomorrow has one m and two rs - not tommorrow, which doubles the wrong letter. Address has a double d and a double s. Business is built on busy, whose y becomes i, giving the sequence busi-ness that its pronunciation entirely conceals.