Spelling
🔒 Log in to trackThe trap-word bank: silent letters and inherited mistakes
🔒 Log in to trackThese words are misspelt the same way by lakhs of candidates, which is exactly why examiners choose them. Each carries one hidden letter or one missing letter:
Trap words
| Correct | Trap spelling | Hook |
|---|---|---|
| privilege | no 'd' anywhere: priv-i-lege | |
| rhythm | no vowel except y: Rh-y-th-m — 'Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move' | |
| government | the n of 'govern' survives: govern + ment | |
| environment | the n of 'environ' survives: environ + ment | |
| separate | there's 'a rat' in sePArATE | |
| desperate | despERate — it ends -ERate | |
| definite | ends -INITE (finite inside: def-inite) | |
| definitely | definite + ly | |
| restaurant | rest-au-rant: the AU sits in the middle | |
| truly | true loses its e: tru-ly | |
| argument | argue loses its e: argu-ment | |
| ninth | nine → ninth: the e drops (but ninety and nineteen keep it) | |
| forty | forty has NO u (four does) | |
| publicly | public + ly — no extra 'al' (unlike tragically) | |
| finally | final + ly: one l in the middle, one at the end | |
| mischievous | ends -VOUS, three syllables: MIS-chi-vous | |
| queue | q-u-e-u-e: five letters, only Q speaks | |
| vacuum | double u: vac-uum | |
| potato | no e at the end | |
| tomatoes | es after o in the plural | |
| embarrassment | embarrass + ment keeps both doubles | |
| supersede | the only -ede in English: super-sede | |
| proceed | -CEED: proceed, succeed, exceed | |
| succeed | proceed family | |
| exceed | proceed family | |
| concede | -CEDE (different from the -CEED three) | |
| guarantee | gua first, then rantee | |
| parallel | one r, then double l in the middle: p-a-r-a-l-l-e-l | |
| harass | ONE r, double s — opposite of embarrass (which has double r) | |
| calendar | ends -DAR (the machine is a calender; the dates are a calendar) | |
| camaraderie | camara- + derie | |
| silhouette | sil-hou-ette: double t | |
| bureaucracy | bureau + cracy | |
| connoisseur | double n, -sseur | |
| liaison | the first i is silent in sound but present in spelling: lia-ison | |
| weird | exception word | |
| grateful | grate + ful — 'great' is NOT inside it | |
| a lot | always two words | |
| all right | formal spelling is two words | |
| skiing | ski + ing: the i-i collision is correct | |
| radii | plural of radius: radi-i | |
| criterion | plural is criteria (no s on criteria) | |
| phenomenon | plural is phenomena | |
| stimulus | plural is stimuli | |
| analysis | plural is analyses | |
| crisis | plural is crises | |
| cactus | classical plural is cacti |
Groups inside the bank:
- Silent letters preserved: government (n), environment (n), rhythm (no vowel but y), queue, vacuum (uu), liaison (i), silhouette (t,h).
- Missing-letter classics: truly (no e), argument (argue drops e), ninth (nine drops e), forty (no u), publicly (no 'al'), definite (not -ate).
- Foreign borrowings: restaurant (au), guarantee (gua), bureaucracy (eau), connoisseur, camaraderie, questionnaire, millennium.
- -ceed vs -cede: only THREE words take -ceed: proceed, succeed, exceed. Everything else takes -cede: concede, recede, precede. And one loner: supersede is the only -sede in English.
- Plurals: criteria (not criterias), phenomena (not phenomenas), stimuli, analyses, crises — plural already means many; adding s doubles it wrongly.
Revise this bank weekly; it is the single highest-yield page in the topic.
Detailed notes
Three words to look at closely
- parallel has one r and a double l in the middle, with a single l at the end: p-a-r-a-l-l-e-l.
- skiing is right (ski + ing); the only misspelling tested is 'sking'.
- ninth: nine drops its e before -th (ninth), but keeps it in ninety and nineteen. Also, cacti and cactuses are both accepted plurals, and both collectable and collectible are standard. Neither of these should be the only answer in an item.
Silent letters
Many trap words have a letter you do not pronounce:
- Silent p: psychology, pneumonia, receipt, cupboard, raspberry.
- Silent d: Wednesday, handkerchief, grandson.
- Silent b: debt, doubt, subtle, plumber, tomb.
- Silent h: rhythm, rhyme, exhaust, exhibition, ghost.
- Silent s: island, aisle, debris.
- Silent n after m: autumn, column, condemn, solemn. Say the word slowly the way it is spelt (WED-NES-DAY) to remember the silent letter.
-ceed, -cede and -sede
- -ceed: only proceed, succeed, exceed (and their forms: proceedings, succeeded, exceeding).
- -sede: only supersede.
- -cede: every other word — precede, recede, concede, secede, intercede. Also note the vowel change in the related words: proceed -> procedure and succeed -> success keep the c but not the double e.
When a root word changes its letters
- pronounce -> pronunciation — the o after 'pron' disappears (pro-NUN-ci-a-tion).
- explain -> explanation, maintain -> maintenance, exclaim -> exclamation — ai becomes a or e.
- curious -> curiosity, generous -> generosity — the u disappears.
- four -> forty (but fourteen), nine -> ninth.
- argue -> argument, true -> truly, due -> duly. Remember these as pairs; the exam usually offers a spelling that keeps the root unchanged.
Borrowed words
French and Latin borrowings keep their original spelling:
- entrepreneur (entre + pre + neur), bureaucracy (bureau + cracy), connoisseur, rendezvous, reservoir, silhouette, camaraderie, liaison, questionnaire. Break them into parts: bureau + cracy, entre + pre + neur. The common mistake is to swap letters within a part ('entreprenuer').
Quick revision
- Silent letters: psychology, Wednesday, subtle, rhythm, island, autumn.
- Only proceed, succeed and exceed end in -ceed; only supersede ends in -sede; everything else ends in -cede.
- Root changes: pronunciation, explanation, forty, ninth, argument, truly.
- Borrowed words: learn by parts (bureau + cracy, entre + pre + neur).
- Parallel = one r, double l in the middle.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Silent lettervery common2 practice Q
The word contains a letter you do not pronounce (Wednesday, psychology, subtle) and one or more options leave it out.
- Recall the silent letter by saying the word as it is spelt (WED-NES-DAY).
- Remove every option that drops it.
- Check the order of the remaining letters.
Why it works: the most common mistake is to spell the word the way it sounds.
Example: Wednesday / Wendesday / Wensday / Wednsday
Wednesday — Wed + nes + day; the d is silent but written.
Type 2: -ceed, -cede or -sedecommon2 practice Q
The options differ in -ceed / -cede / -sede, or in the vowel before it (precede, succeeded, exceed).
- Is it proceed, succeed or exceed? Then -ceed.
- Is it supersede? Then -sede.
- Otherwise -cede.
Why it works: the list of exceptions is only four words long.
Example: Precede / Preceed / Presede / Priceed
Precede — not one of the three -ceed words, so -cede.
Type 3: Root letter changed in the longer wordcommon2 practice Q
The word comes from a root that changes its letters: pronounce -> pronunciation, nine -> ninth, four -> forty.
- Think of the root and how it changes.
- Remove the option that keeps the root unchanged (pronounciation, nineth).
- Check the remaining options letter by letter.
Why it works: the most common wrong option keeps the root word as it is.
Example: Pronunciation / Pronounciation / Pronuntiation / Prononciation
Pronunciation — the o of pronounce disappears: pro-nun-ci-a-tion.
Type 4: Borrowed wordcommon2 practice Q
A French or Latin borrowing: entrepreneur, bureaucracy, connoisseur, rendezvous, silhouette.
- Split the word into parts: bureau + cracy.
- Check each part in each option.
- Remove options with swapped letters inside a part (entreprenuer).
Why it works: borrowed words keep their original spelling, so checking part by part is reliable.
Example: Bureaucracy / Beaurocracy / Bureaucrasy / Burocracy
Bureaucracy — bureau + cracy.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ The n-test for -ment words
government = govern+ment, environment = environ+ment: the root's final n must survive. Ask 'what is the root?' — the letter reappears.
⚡ Three -ceed, one -sede
proceed, succeed, exceed = the only -ceed words; supersede = the only -sede. All other 'seed-sound' words are -cede.
⚡ No- doubling plurals
criteria, phenomena, stimuli, data already are plurals — any option adding -s to them is instantly wrong.
Where students lose marks
Writing 'gaurantee' — swap of a and u; gua-rantee.
Writing 'greatful' — grate + ful; 'great' is not in the word.
Writing 'alot' — it is always two words: a lot.
Writing 'calender' for the date-chart — the machine spelling.
Practice sets — 16 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.