Writing - Spelling
What the section tests
Writing-Spelling presents sentences or word sets where a word may be misspelled, or asks you to choose the correct spelling. The words are ordinary working vocabulary, not obscure terms.
Concepts to master
- Homophones: their/there/they're, to/too/two, its/it's, your/you're, principal/principle, stationary/stationery.
- Final-consonant doubling: words ending consonant–vowel–consonant may double before a vowel suffix - stop becomes stopped; occur becomes occurred (stress on the last syllable), but offer becomes offered.
- Silent e: dropped before a vowel suffix (require becomes requiring) but kept before a consonant suffix (requirement).
- ie/ei: i before e except after c, with exceptions such as seize and weird.
- Plurals and possessives: officers (more than one), officer's (belonging to one), officers' (belonging to many).
- High-frequency trap words: separate, maintenance, judgment, occurrence, accommodate, definitely, personnel, warrant, affidavit, misdemeanor.
Traps
- Misspellings that match pronunciation, such as "definately."
- Apostrophes added to simple plurals.
- Single versus double consonants in occurred, recommended, beginning.
- Mixed British and American forms.
Rule of thumb
Say the word slowly in syllables and write each one. Check doubling by asking where the stress falls. For possessives, test with "of": if you can rephrase as "of the officer," use an apostrophe.
Worked example
"The report noted that the collision ___ at 2:15 a.m." Choices: occurred, occured, occurrred, ocured. Only occurred is right: double the c, double the r before -ed.