Spelling
A sentence cut into four parts may hide one wrong spelling. Here are the rules that find it, and how to tell when there isn’t one.
Chapter 1
What are spelling questions?
In the exam, a sentence is cut into four parts, A to D. One word in it may be spelt wrong. You pick the part that word is in, or N if every word is right.
The four parts. One sentence, cut into A, B, C and D.
The mistake. One wrong word at most, often just one letter out.
The answers. A, B, C, D, or N for no mistake: five, in Rush and in the exam.
Rush’s Spelling game asks this at its top level. It also shows one word spelt four ways, or asks which letter is silent. Tricky Words, the other Rush game here, is chapter 4.
- ABegining a
- Bnew school
- Ccan feel
- Da bit scary.
Which part has a spelling mistake? Pick N if none.
- Option 1: A
- Option 2: B
- Option 3: C
- Option 4: D
- Option 5: N
A Verbal question from Rush, level 3.
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The root word
The root is the word at the heart of a longer one: kind in unkindly. A bit added at the start, like un, is a prefix. A bit added at the end, like ly, is a suffix. Lots of mistakes happen where they join.
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ba-NA-na
com-PU-ter
The stressed syllable
Say a long word slowly and one syllable comes out louder than the rest: ba-NA-na, com-PU-ter. That loud beat is the stressed syllable. Two of the rules on this page use it.
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the question, one part at a time.
The question
- ABegining a
- Bnew school
- Ccan feel
- Da bit scary.
Which part has a spelling mistake? Pick N if none.
- Option 1: A
- Option 2: B
- Option 3: C
- Option 4: D
- Option 5: N
A Verbal question from Rush, level 3.
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Step 1
Check one part at a time.
Cover the other parts and look at each word on its own, small ones too. A mistake hides easily in a whole sentence. In part A, Begining looks thin.
Part A on its own.
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Step 2
Find the root word.
Split the word into its root and what’s added: begin + ing. Begin is spelt right, so if there’s a mistake, it’s at the join.
The root, begin, is fine. Look at the join.
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Step 3
Check the join.
Say begin: the stressed syllable, GIN, is at the end. When a word ends in a stressed syllable with one vowel then one consonant, that consonant doubles before an ending like ing or ed. So it’s beginning, with two n’s.
be-GIN is stressed at the end, so the n doubles.
Three traps it sets
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Picking the part that looks odd. B has school, where ch says k. It looks strange, but it’s right. | Only pick a part if you can say how its word should be spelt. |
| Thinking a letter has gone. In D, scary can look short, because scare ends in e. | The e drops before an ending that starts with a vowel or y: scare, scary. D is right. |
| Going by sound. Begining and beginning sound the same, so N can feel safe. | Check spellings with your eyes. Look at every join before you pick N. |
So it’s A. Begin doubles its n before ing: beginning. B, C and D are all spelt right.
Remember: Part by part. Root, then join.
Chapter 3
The rules that decide the answers.
Rush’s other two forms first, then the rules behind the wrong spellings. Each card has the rule, an example and the trap.
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Four spellings, one right
Line them up and find where they differ.
Rush often shows one word four ways. Here only the vowel before the l changes, and you can’t hear it. A cousin word says it loudly: hos-pi-TAL-i-ty, so it’s hospital. Trap: picking by sound, when all four sound the same.
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Sometimes there’s no mistake
Pick N when every word passes.
Embarrassed looks wrong, but it’s right: two r’s and two s’s. In Rush, about one sentence in five has no mistake. Trap: being so sure there’s a mistake that you pick a word that’s fine.
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believe
receive
eight
i before e
Usually ie. But ei after c when it says ee, and ei when it says ay.
Field and believe have ie. Receive and ceiling have ei after the c. Eight and neighbour have ei for the ay sound. Trap: weird, seize and protein break the rule, so learn them.
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Double it, or not?
Double only if the last syllable is stressed and ends in one vowel then one consonant.
pre-FER: the last syllable is stressed, so preferred. VIS-it is stressed at the start: visiting. A word of one syllable counts as stressed: run, running. Jump ends in two consonants, so jumping. Trap: in British English, a last l doubles anyway: travelled.
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Drop the e, or keep it
Drop the e before a vowel. Keep it before a consonant.
Write + ing is writing. Love + ly is lovely. Trap: noticeable and changeable keep their e, so the c still says s and the g still says j.
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When y turns to i
After a consonant, y turns to i before an ending.
Carry + ed is carried. Beauty + ful is beautiful. Trap: the y stays before ing (carrying), and after a vowel (played, enjoyable).
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A prefix changes nothing
Add the prefix and keep every letter of both.
Un + necessary is unnecessary. Im + mature is immature. Trap: disappear has one s, because appear starts with a. Dissatisfied has two, because satisfied starts with s.
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explode → explosion
music → musician
-tion, -sion, -ssion or -cian?
The root word picks the ending.
Most roots ending in t or te take -tion (invent, invention). In d, de or se: -sion (extend, extension). In ss or mit: -ssion (permit, permission). A job from a word ending in c: -cian (magic, magician). Trap: attention, from attend.
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enjoyable
possible
-able or -ible?
A whole word before it? Usually -able.
Enjoy, comfort and depend are words, so it’s enjoyable, comfortable, dependable. Poss and horr aren’t, so it’s possible, horrible. Trap: -able is far more common, so learn the -ible words: visible, terrible, sensible, incredible.
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Which letter is silent?
knot
Silent letters
Say the word at normal speed. The letter you can’t hear is silent.
Rush asks this too. Silent letters come in groups: kn and wr at the start (knot, wrist), mb at the end (lamb), st in the middle (listen). A cousin can say it out loud: sign, signal. Trap: you never hear the d in Wednesday.
Chapter 4
Tricky Words.
Words that sound the same. It’s the other Rush game on this page, and the exam hides them in its spelling sentences too.
A sentence has one or two gaps, and the options sound the same or nearly the same, like there, their and they’re. Words like these are homophones: same sound, different spelling, different meaning.
With two gaps, each option is a pair of words, in order. Every option is spelt right, so meaning decides.
Please be _ _ _, because the baby needs a _ _ _ room.
- quiet … quite
- quite … quite
- quiet … quiet
- quite … quiet
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Step 1
One gap at a time.
Quiet means not noisy. Quite means fairly or very, and needs a word after it: quite cold. “Please be quiet” works. “Please be quite” stops halfway: quite what?
Please be quiet, because the baby needs a _ _ _ room.
Gap 1: quiet.
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Step 2
Then the next gap.
“A _ _ _ room” needs a word that describes the room. A quiet room makes sense; a quite room doesn’t. So it’s quiet again. Two gaps can take the same word.
Please be quiet, because the baby needs a quiet room.
Gap 2: quiet again.
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they’re = they are
it’s = it is
An apostrophe? Say it in full
They’re is they are. It’s is it is. You’re is you are.
If “they are” doesn’t fit, it’s their (belonging: their coats) or there (a place: over there). The same test sorts who’s and whose, we’re and were. Trap: its, for belonging, has no apostrophe: the dog wagged its tail.
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advice a thing
advise to do
c for the thing, s for the doing
Practice and advice are things. Practise and advise are things you do.
Not sure? Swap in advice or advise, which sound different. “Some _ _ _” wants a thing, so c. “Please _ _ _” wants a doing word, so s. Trap: affect is usually the doing word and effect the thing: the rain affected the match.
The sets Rush asks most
Two more checks: write should have, never should of. And an goes before a vowel sound: an hour, but a unicorn.
So it’s quiet … quiet. Both gaps are about noise, so both need quiet, the word for not noisy.
Remember: One gap at a time.
Chapter 5: In the exam
A real word in the wrong place.
The exam asks spelling the way Rush’s top level does: four parts, then N. But it also uses one mistake Rush never makes.
Homophones can be mistakes
Every word can be spelt right and a part can still be wrong, because the word is the wrong one for the sentence. So for each word, ask two things: is it spelt right, and is it the right word?
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Example
The children walked threw the park after school.
Every word is real, so a quick look says N. But threw is the past of throw: you threw a ball. Going in one side and out of the other is through. So part B has the mistake.
B: walked through the park.
Chapter 6
Try it yourself.
Six real questions from Rush, easy to hard, 60 seconds on the clock.
Use the steps
- Check one part at a time.
- Find the root word.
- Check the join.
Remember: Part by part. Root, then join.
For parents.
What parents ask us about spelling.
Questions parents ask
Is there an official 11+ spelling list?
No. The tests don't publish one. The nearest thing is the National Curriculum's statutory word lists, the words state schools teach: about 100 words for Years 3 and 4, and 100 for Years 5 and 6. Rush's Spelling game asks almost all the words on both lists, among more than 850 words in all.
How is an 11+ spelling test different from a school one?
A school test asks your child to write the word. The 11+ shows spellings and asks which is right, or which part of a sentence has the mistake. Spotting is easier than writing, but the wrong versions are built to look right, one letter off, so a child has to check rather than glance.
Which spelling rules are worth learning for the 11+?
Three cover a lot of ground. Keep the root word whole (government, environment). After a consonant, change 'y' to 'i' before an ending, except -ing (happiness, but carrying). And -able is a far bigger family than -ible, so learn the common -ible words as a list: possible, terrible, horrible, visible, sensible, incredible. Every rule has exceptions, so if one clashes with a word your child knows well, trust the word.
My child spells well in their writing but gets these wrong. Why?
Writing from memory and choosing between near-misses are different skills. Next to three almost-right versions, a child who knows the word can start to doubt it. Finding the one place where the options disagree, and checking only that, means deciding one letter instead of comparing four words.
Rush: 11+ Practice & KS2 SATsPractise spelling in Rush.
- Spelling and Tricky Words as 100-second games, easy at first and harder as your child improves
- Every miss kept with the right answer and why
- Spelling and Tricky Words are in Premium, and six other games are free
On the App Store for iPhone and iPad
Six other games are free, plus a new family game every day. Spelling and Tricky Words are in Premium: all 41 games are £24.99 a year after a free week1, or £3.99 a month.