Quiz: Spelling Rules

Subject: SPaG | Year: 6

Questions (Student Sheet)

Name: _________________________ Class/Set: ____________ Date: ____________

Q1: The verb 'advise' ends in a silent 'e'. Which is the correct spelling when adding the suffix '-ing'? a) ☐ adviseing b) ☐ advising c) ☐ advizeing d) ☐ advizing

Q2: When adding a suffix starting with a vowel to the word 'refer' (where the last syllable is stressed), the 1-1-1 doubling rule often applies. What is the correct spelling of 'refer' + '-ed'? a) ☐ refered b) ☐ reffered c) ☐ referred d) ☐ referrd

Q3: The word 'occupy' ends in a 'y'. Which spelling is correct when changing the word to the past tense by adding the suffix '-ed'? a) ☐ occupyed b) ☐ occupied c) ☐ occupeed d) ☐ occupid

Q4: The word 'definite' ends in a silent 'e'. Which is the correct spelling when adding the suffix '-ly' to turn it into an adverb? a) ☐ definitly b) ☐ definately c) ☐ definitely d) ☐ definatly

Q5: Consider the word 'desperate'. Which is the correct spelling when adding the suffix '-ly'? a) ☐ desperatly b) ☐ desperately c) ☐ desparately d) ☐ desparatly

Q6: Which rule is applied when turning 'advise' into 'advisable'? a) ☐ Change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the suffix. b) ☐ Double the final consonant because the suffix starts with a vowel. c) ☐ Drop the silent 'e' because the suffix starts with a vowel. d) ☐ Keep the silent 'e' because the suffix starts with a consonant.

Q7: When adding the suffix '-ence' to the word 'refer', the stress shifts to the first syllable (ref-er-ence). Based on this, what is the correct spelling? a) ☐ referrence b) ☐ reference c) ☐ referance d) ☐ referrence

Q8: Which of the following words correctly applies the rule for adding '-ing' to a word ending in 'y'? a) ☐ occupiing b) ☐ occupying c) ☐ occupping d) ☐ occupyng

Q9: Study the word 'definition'. Which root word was used to create this, and what happened to the silent 'e'? a) ☐ The root is 'definite' and the 'e' was kept. b) ☐ The root is 'definit' and no 'e' was needed. c) ☐ The root is 'definite' and the 'e' was dropped before adding '-ion'. d) ☐ The root is 'defyne' and the 'y' changed to 'i'.

Q10: If the stress remains on the second syllable when adding a suffix, the consonant is doubled. Which is the correct spelling of 'refer' + '-al'? a) ☐ referal b) ☐ referral c) ☐ referel d) ☐ refferall

Score: _______ / 10

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⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE

💡 Pedagogical Landing

• Assessment Focus: This quiz targets the transition from simple phonetic spelling to rule-based morphological spelling, a key requirement for the KS2 Writing Primary Assessment Framework (Working at Greater Depth).
• Misconception Alert: Year 6 students frequently misspelt 'definitely' as 'definately'. Remind students that 'definite' contains the word 'finite' to help them remember the 'i' instead of the 'a'.
• The 1-1-1 Rule: For the word 'refer', doubling only occurs if the syllable remains stressed (e.g., referring, referral). If the stress shifts, as in reference, the consonant is not doubled.

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Answer Key & Explanations

Q1: b

Explanation: For words ending in a silent 'e', we drop the 'e' before adding a suffix that starts with a vowel (like '-ing'). Option 'a' incorrectly keeps the 'e'.

Q2: c

Explanation: In 'refer', the stress is on the last syllable. When adding a vowel suffix ('-ed'), we double the final consonant. Option 'a' is a common error where the doubling is forgotten.

Q3: b

Explanation: When a word ends in a consonant + 'y', we change the 'y' to 'i' before adding suffixes like '-ed' or '-es'. Option 'a' fails to change the 'y'.

Q4: c

Explanation: Unlike suffixes starting with a vowel, the suffix '-ly' starts with a consonant. Therefore, we keep the silent 'e' in 'definite'. Option 'b' is the most common misspelling in the UK, substituting 'i' for 'a'.

Q5: b

Explanation: Similar to 'definitely', we keep the silent 'e' in 'desperate' because '-ly' starts with a consonant. 'Desparate' (option 'c') is a common misspelling.

Q6: c

Explanation: 'Advisable' is formed from 'advise' + '-able'. Since '-able' starts with a vowel, we drop the silent 'e'.

Q7: b

Explanation: In the word reference, the stress is no longer on the 'r' syllable. Because the stress has shifted to the front of the word, we do not double the 'r'.

Q8: b

Explanation: We usually change 'y' to 'i', except when the suffix itself starts with 'i' (like '-ing'). This prevents having two 'i's together (ii). Therefore, 'occupying' is correct.

Q9: c

Explanation: The root word is 'definite'. When adding the suffix '-ion', we drop the silent 'e' because the suffix starts with a vowel.

Q10: b

Explanation: In 'referral', the stress remains on the second syllable (re-fer-ral). Because the stress stays there and we are adding a vowel suffix, we double the final 'r'.