Spelling And Dictionary Skills

Your friend sent you a text: "I can't beleive we won the game!" Which word is misspelled?

• can't

• beleive

• won

• game

Answer explanation

The word "beleive" is misspelled. The correct spelling is "believe," which follows the "i before e" spelling rule.

Match the American English spelling to its British English equivalent.

• colour

• organize

• organise

• color

• theatre

• theater

Answer explanation

These pairs show common spelling differences between American English (-or, -er, -ize) and British English (-our, -re, -ise).

Sort these words based on the spelling rule used to add the suffix: "Drop the final e" or "Double the final consonant".

Groups:

(a) Drop the final e

,

(b) Double the final consonant

• making

• baking

• running

• swimming

• joking

• hopping

Answer explanation

Words ending in a silent 'e' (like bake) drop the 'e' before adding '-ing'. Words with a short vowel followed by a single consonant (like run) double the consonant.

In a dictionary entry, what does the abbreviation (n.) next to a word like "courage" tell you?

• How to pronounce the word

• That it is a noun (a person, place, or thing)

• The word's origin

• A synonym for the word

Answer explanation

The abbreviation (n.) stands for "noun" and identifies the word's part of speech, which is a key component of a dictionary entry.

Which sentence uses the correct spelling for a word that sounds like "kernel"?

• The army coronel gave the orders.

• The army colonel gave the orders.

• The army curnel gave the orders.

• The army kernal gave the orders.

Answer explanation

"Colonel" is an irregularly spelled word where the pronunciation does not match the letters. The other options are common misspellings.

Match each part of a dictionary entry to its function.

• Symbols showing how to say the word

• Pronunciation

• The meaning of the word

• Headword

• The word being defined, usually in bold

• Definition

Answer explanation

A dictionary entry is organized with the headword first, followed by its pronunciation, part of speech, and definition(s).

You wrote "The movie was good" and want to find a more exciting word. Which reference tool is best for this task?

• An encyclopedia

• A glossary

• A thesaurus

• An atlas

Answer explanation

A thesaurus is used to find synonyms (words with similar meanings), which is perfect for replacing a simple word like "good" with a more descriptive one.

Sort these words into two groups: "Correctly Spelled" and "Incorrectly Spelled".

Groups:

(a) Correctly Spelled

,

(b) Incorrectly Spelled

• receive

• separate

• definately

• wierd

• goverment

• privilege

Answer explanation

"Definately" should be "definitely," "wierd" should be "weird," and "goverment" should be "government." The other words are spelled correctly.

To make the word "study" plural, what is the correct spelling rule to follow?

• Just add -s

• Change the y to i and add -es

• Drop the y and add -ies

• Double the y and add -s

Answer explanation

For words ending in a consonant followed by 'y', you change the 'y' to an 'i' and add '-es' to make it plural, resulting in "studies."

If you were looking up the word "challenge" in a dictionary, which two guide words might you see at the top of the page?

• Cat / Celebrate

• Champion / Change

• Chase / Child

• Cabin / Cake

Answer explanation

Guide words show the first and last word on a page. "Challenge" comes alphabetically between "champion" and "change."