Spelling Test Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: Foreign

The correct spelling is foreign - e before i, and a silent g before the n. It is one of the standard exceptions to the rule i before e except after c. The full set of common exceptions is worth learning: foreign, neighbour, weight, height, their, seize, weird, leisure, either, neither, protein and caffeine. The silent g is an intrusion. The word came from the Old French forain and had no g; scribes added one in the sixteenth century by mistaken analogy with reign and sovereign - the last of which acquired its g the same way. The related forms keep it: foreigner, foreignness.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Definitely

The correct spelling is definitely. There is no a anywhere in it, and the vowel that so often appears as one is an i. The best safeguard is to see the word finite inside it: de-finite-ly. Something definite has been marked out with limits, from the Latin finis, an end - the same root as finish, final, infinite and define. The second error the options offer is dropping the e before -ly. English keeps it: the adjective definite simply takes -ly. The same holds for completely, extremely and immediately, while truly, duly and wholly are the exceptions that drop it. It is consistently among the most misspelt words in English, and the finite test disposes of every variant at once.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Separate

The correct spelling is separate, with an a in the middle - not seperate, which is among the commonest errors in written English. The word comes from the Latin separare, built on parare, to prepare or make ready - the same root as prepare and repair. Seeing par inside the word settles the vowel. The usual mnemonic is that there is a rat in sepa rate. The related forms keep the same vowel: separation, separately, separable, inseparable. The mistake persists because the middle syllable is unstressed and reduced in speech to a neutral vowel, giving the ear no help - the same reason definitely, grammar, calendar and independent are so often misspelt.

Answer: A

Meaning: Efficient means (of a system or machine) achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense or (of a person) working in a well-organized and competent way..

Answer: A

Correct answer: Vacuum

The correct spelling is vacuum - one c and two us. It is among the very few English words containing a double u, the others being continuum, residuum and menstruum. All are Latin neuter nouns whose -uum ending English kept intact. The commonest error doubles the c instead, by analogy with vaccine and vaccination - which are entirely unrelated. Those come from the Latin vacca, a cow, because the first vaccine was derived from cowpox; vacuum comes from vacuus, empty, the same root as vacant, vacate and evacuate. Keeping the two roots apart - vacca the cow with two cs, vacuus the emptiness with one - disposes of the error for good. The plural is vacuums in ordinary use and vacua in scientific writing.

Answer: C

It is ominous.

One m, one n. It is built on omen, which keeps its single consonants before the -ous.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Diarrhoea

The correct British spelling is diarrhoea - a double r, an h after it, and the vowel pair oe at the end. It comes from the Greek diarrhoia, from dia, through, and rhein, to flow - the same rh as in rhythm, rheumatism and haemorrhage. The oe is a Greek diphthong that British English preserves and American English simplifies to a plain e, giving diarrhea. The same split runs through the medical vocabulary: oesophagus and esophagus, foetus and fetus, anaemia and anemia, paediatric and pediatric. Indian examinations follow the British forms. The doubled r with a following h also appears in haemorrhage, catarrh and myrrh, all of them Greek in origin.

Answer: D

It is treacherous.

Built on treachery, which keeps all three of its syllables - treach-er-ous. The word comes from the Old French trichier, to cheat.

Answer: D

It is forecast.

Fore- meaning beforehand, plus cast in the old sense of reckoning. No e in the middle and none at the end.

Answer: D

It is rigorous.

The u of rigour is dropped before the -ous ending, exactly as in humorous, vigorous and glamorous.