60-second revision
- Most spelling MCQs test five rules: ie/ei, doubling a consonant, silent e, y to i, and double letters.
- I before e except after c, when the sound is 'ee': believe, receive. Exceptions: seize, weird, either.
- Double the last consonant when the last syllable is stressed: begin–beginning, occur–occurred; but visit–visited.
- Indian exams generally follow British spelling: travelled, cancelled, colour, programme, cheque.
- Drop a silent e before a vowel suffix (hope–hoping) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope–hopeful).
- Words with two sets of double letters are favourites: accommodate, committee, embarrass, possession, address.
- In word swap, first ask who is doing what to whom; the doer must be able to do the action.
What these questions look like
Spelling appears in three forms: pick the correctly spelt word, pick the misspelt word, or spot a misspelt word inside a sentence. Bank exams add word swap, where two words in a sentence have exchanged places and you must find the pair. Both reward the same habit: slow down and look at the letters, not at the overall shape of the word.
Read the instruction twice. 'Select the misspelt word' and 'Select the correctly spelt word' look alike, and under time pressure many candidates pick the opposite of what was asked.
Five rules that settle most questions
| Rule | Examples | Exceptions to remember |
|---|---|---|
| i before e, except after c, when the sound is 'ee' | believe, achieve, field; receive, ceiling, deceive | seize, weird, protein, either, neither |
| One-syllable word ending in one vowel + one consonant: double the consonant before a vowel suffix | stop–stopped, run–running, big–bigger | words ending in w, x or y: fix–fixed, play–played |
| Longer words: double only if the last syllable is stressed | begin–beginning, admit–admitted, prefer–preferred, occur–occurrence | offer–offered, visit–visited, benefit–benefited (stress falls on the first syllable) |
| Drop a silent e before a vowel suffix; keep it before a consonant suffix | hope–hoping, write–writing; hope–hopeful, move–movement | argument, truly, ninth; noticeable and courageous keep the e to keep c and g soft |
| Consonant + y: change y to i before a suffix (but not before -ing) | carry–carried, happy–happiness, beauty–beautiful | play–played (vowel + y), carrying; paid, said, laid |
Exam favourites and how to remember them
| Word | Where people slip | Memory hook |
|---|---|---|
| accommodate | two c, two m | room for two cots and two mattresses |
| committee | two m, two t, two e | doubles everywhere, like its many members |
| embarrass | two r, two s | you turn really red and smile shyly |
| harass | one r, two s | the opposite pattern to embarrass |
| necessary | one c, two s | one collar, two sleeves |
| occasion | two c, one s | two cakes, one sweet |
| separate | a in the middle | there is 'a rat' in sep-a-rat-e |
| definitely | -ite, not -ate | 'finite' sits inside: de-finite-ly |
| millennium | two l, two n | Latin mille (thousand) + annus (year) |
| questionnaire | two n | from French questionner |
| conscientious | the -sci- and the -tious | conscience minus its final e, plus -tious |
| pronunciation | no 'noun' inside | pronounce loses its o in the noun |
| mischievous | no i after v | three syllables: mis-chie-vous |
| rhythm | no vowel at all | Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move |
| privilege | no d, ends in -lege | there is no 'ledge' in privilege |
| liaison | i on both sides of the a | li-a-i-son |
| surveillance | -eill- in the middle | French veiller, to keep watch |
| guarantee | u after the g | guard your guarantee |
| occurrence | two c, two r, ends in -ence | occur doubles its r because the stress is on -cur |
Suffixes that trap candidates
- -able / -ible: -able usually follows a complete word (acceptable, readable, dependable); -ible usually follows a stem that is not a word by itself (visible, audible, possible, terrible).
- -ance / -ence: there is no safe rule, so learn the families: appearance, assistance, maintenance, acquaintance; existence, independence, persistence, occurrence.
- -ful has one l: careful, grateful, spoonful, successful.
- Adding -ly to a word ending in -al keeps both l's: final–finally, accidental–accidentally, usual–usually.
- Plurals of -o words: potatoes, tomatoes, heroes, echoes take -es; pianos, photos, radios, kilos take only -s.
Word swap: the method
In a word-swap question, a sentence reads oddly because two words have exchanged positions. The options list four pairs; only one pair, when swapped back, gives a sentence that is both grammatical and logical.
- Read the whole sentence once for sense. Ask: who is doing what to whom?
- Check the doer. If something that cannot act (a book, a road, a cup) is doing the action, the subject and the object have probably swapped.
- Check the parts of speech. A swapped pair is almost always the same kind of word: noun with noun, verb with verb, adjective with adjective.
- Swap the pair you suspect and read the full sentence again.
- Make sure no other change is needed. If you still have to alter a verb or add a word, you picked the wrong pair.
Worked example: 'The exam cleared the student with high marks.' An exam cannot clear a student, so the nouns have swapped: 'The student cleared the exam with high marks.' Nothing else needs to change, which confirms the pair.
Another: 'The doctor examined the fever for high patient.' A doctor examines a patient, not a fever, and 'high' belongs with fever. Swap the two nouns: 'The doctor examined the patient for high fever.' One exchange fixes both grammar and sense. Always test each option's pair rather than inventing your own.
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