Real questions: the spelling, plural and homophone questions of the TNPSC Group 2/2A Prelims 2025 and Group 4 2025 General English papers, with the answers as printed in our copy of the papers (arivark.com), and one Group 2 2024 question. They are printed as they appear there. Rules: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries and Cambridge spelling guidance (British spelling). Method, word lists and practice questions: ArivArk Academy.
Spelling questions in the exam
What this topic is: spelling questions come under Vocabulary in the General English syllabus. In 2025 they came in four forms: choose the correct spelling (Bourgeoisie, Victuals), the correct plural (cactus, criteria, premises), homophones and homonyms (bear / bare, aloud / allowed, bat / bat) and the word that fits the sentence (exhilaration / exasperation).
Why it feels hard: the four options look almost the same. You do not have to read every letter of every option. Look only at the place where they differ, and check that one place.
The method: find where the options differ
Step 1. Find where the options differ. Put the four options one below the other. The letters that are the same in all four are not the question; only the changing part is. In Bourggiese / Borgieoise / Bourgeoisie / Bourgeosie, the start BOUR and the middle GEOI are what change.
Step 2. Break the word into parts. Say it slowly, part by part: ne-ces-sa-ry, de-fi-nite-ly, ac-com-mo-da-tion, BOUR-GEOI-SIE. A part you can say is a part you can spell.
Step 3. Check that part with a rule. Is it ie or ei? Is the last letter doubled? Did the silent e go? Did y turn into i? The four rules below decide most options.
Step 4. Look for a word inside the word. There is a rat in separate; finite is inside definitely; a piece of pie is in piece.
Silent letters
| Silent letter | Words (the silent letter marked) |
|---|---|
| k | knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge |
| w | write, wrist, wrong, answer, sword |
| b | doubt, debt, thumb, climb, comb |
| h | honest, hour, honour, heir |
| g | sign, foreign, design, gnaw |
| l | calm, talk, half, salmon |
| t | listen, castle, whistle, often |
| d | Wednesday, handsome, sandwich |
| s | island, aisle, debris |
| p | psychology, receipt, pneumonia |
| c | muscle, scissors, victuals (said "vittles") |
| n | autumn, column, hymn, condemn |
The four spelling rules
| Rule | Examples | Exceptions and notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. I before e, except after c | believe, field, piece, achieve; after c: receive, ceiling, deceive, receipt | seize, weird, either, neither, leisure, foreign, height, their. When the sound is "ay", it is ei: neighbour, weigh, eight. When c is said "sh", it is ie: ancient, efficient, science. |
| 2. Doubling the last consonant | One syllable, one vowel, one consonant at the end: running, stopped, bigger, sitting. Longer words stressed on the last part: be-GIN, beginning; oc-CUR, occurred; pre-FER, preferred; ad-MIT, admitted. | No doubling when the stress is earlier: VIS-it, visited; O-pen, opened; HAP-pen, happened; BEN-e-fit, benefited. Never double w, x or y: fixed, played, snowing. British spelling doubles a final l after one vowel: travelled, cancelled, labelled (American: traveled). |
| 3. Dropping the silent e | Before an ending that starts with a vowel (-ing, -ed, -able, -er), the e goes: make + ing = making, write + ing = writing, hope + ing = hoping, love + able = lovable. Before an ending that starts with a consonant (-ful, -ment, -less, -ly), the e stays: hopeful, careful, movement, useless, lately. | argument, truly, ninth, wholly, duly drop the e. The e stays after a soft c or g before a or o: noticeable, changeable, courageous, manageable. dyeing (colour) stays apart from dying (death); words ending in ee keep both: seeing, agreeing. |
| 4. Changing y to i | After a consonant, y becomes i: happiness, carried, cries, beautiful, easily, tried. | Before -ing the y stays: carrying, trying, studying. After a vowel the y stays: played, enjoyed, obeyed, keys, delayed. Learn these: daily, paid, said, laid; shyness, dryness. |
Commonly misspelt words (the tricky part marked)
Latin and Greek plurals
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| criterion | criteria | phenomenon | phenomena |
| crisis | crises | analysis | analyses |
| thesis | theses | hypothesis | hypotheses |
| basis | bases | oasis | oases |
| diagnosis | diagnoses | prognosis | prognoses |
| medium | media | datum | data |
| curriculum | curricula | memorandum | memoranda |
| bacterium | bacteria | stratum | strata |
| cactus | cacti (Latin), cactuses (English) | fungus | fungi |
| nucleus | nuclei | radius | radii |
| stimulus | stimuli | alumnus | alumni |
| syllabus | syllabi or syllabuses | formula | formulae or formulas |
| larva | larvae | vertebra | vertebrae |
| index | indices or indexes | appendix | appendices or appendixes |
| matrix | matrices | axis | axes |
| tuna | tuna (no change) | species, series | species, series (no change) |
Watch out: premises (a building and its land) is always plural: "Smoking is not allowed on the premises." Crises and media are already plural; their singulars are crisis and medium. When a question says "Not the Latin form", give the English plural with -s or -es.
Homophones
| Word | Meaning | Sounds like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| bear | a large animal; to carry | bare | uncovered, empty |
| aloud | in a voice others can hear | allowed | permitted |
| principal | the head of a school; main | principle | a rule or belief |
| stationary | not moving | stationery | pens, paper, envelopes (e for envelope) |
| compliment | praise | complement | something that completes |
| council | a group that makes decisions | counsel | advice; a lawyer |
| weather | rain, sun, wind | whether | if |
| their | belonging to them | there | in that place |
| site | a place | sight | the power to see |
| coarse | rough | course | a path; a set of classes |
| peace | no war | piece | a part |
| steal | to take without asking | steel | a strong metal |
| break | to make something fall to pieces | brake | the part that stops a vehicle |
| pray | to speak to God | prey | an animal that is hunted |
| waive | to give up a right | wave | to move the hand; a moving ridge of water |
| hoard | a hidden store | horde | a large crowd |
Homonyms
| Homonym (same spelling, same sound) | Meaning 1 | Meaning 2 |
|---|---|---|
| bat | a cricket bat | a flying animal |
| bank | where money is kept | the side of a river |
| bark | the sound a dog makes | the outer skin of a tree |
| match | a game | a stick that makes fire |
| spring | the season | a coiled wire |
| fair | just, honest | a festival with stalls |
| left | opposite of right | went away |
Homophones sound the same, but the spelling and the meaning differ (bear / bare). Homonyms have the same spelling and the same sound, only the meaning differs (bat / bat). Words with the same spelling but a different sound are homographs: read (now) and read (past, said "red"); lead (to guide) and lead (the metal).
TNPSC PYQs with answers
Identify the correct spelling of the word which denotes the following sentence.
A class of people in society who are interested mainly in having more money and a higher social position.
Fill in the blanks with correct spelling.
"The restaurant offers a wide variety of delicious _____
What is the plural form of 'Cactus' in English? (Not the Latin Form)
Choose the correct plurals given in the options and fill in the blanks.
(1) The (1) ____ is for more people to work part-time in the future.
(2) We are having (2) _____ casserole tonight.
(3) Smoking is not allowed on the (3) _____
(4) We discussed the success (4) _____ together
Options:
(1) Prognosis Prognoses Prognosus Prognos
(2) Tuna Tunas Tunae Tunii
(3) Premisis Premisus Premises Premisas
(4) Criterion Criteria Criterius Criterian
Which pair is an example of homophones?
Match the categories in Column A with the words in Column B:
| (a) Abbreviations | 1. Bat, Bat |
| (b) Acronyms | 2. Aloud, Allowed |
| (c) Homonyms | 3. WHO, PAN |
| (d) Homophones | 4. ATM, CEO |
Which of the following word is incorrect in the context of the sentence?
"After the team's success, the coach felt a great sense of _____ for his player's performance".
Identify which is the correct singular word and select the answer from the codes given below.
(a) Crises / (b) Media
Answer in the comments, then check the answer key at the end.
Practice questions
More practice: search SPELLING on arivark.com for this PDF, and follow t.me/arivarkacademy for daily questions.
Your question from the video (Group 2, 2024): Identify which is the correct singular word: (a) Crises / (b) Media. Answer: (D) Both (a) and (b) are plural word. Crises is the plural of crisis, and media is the plural of medium.
Why? One line each
| No. | Reason | No. | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (C) | Double c and double m: a-cc-o-mm-odation. | 13 (A) | y after a consonant becomes i: happy, happiness. |
| 2 (C) | One c, double s: ne-ces-sa-ry. | 14 (D) | A vowel (o) comes before the y, so the y stays. |
| 3 (A) | After c, e comes before i: rec-ei-ve. | 15 (C) | The e stays before -ful, which starts with a consonant; -ful has one l. |
| 4 (C) | Finite is inside: de-fi-nite-ly. | 16 (A) | The k of knife is not said. |
| 5 (B) | There is a rat in sepa-rat-e. | 17 (D) | Greek -on becomes -a: phenomenon, phenomena. |
| 6 (D) | be-GIN is stressed on the last part, so the n doubles. | 18 (C) | -is becomes -es: analysis, analyses. |
| 7 (C) | Double c, and oc-CUR is stressed on the last part, so the r doubles. | 19 (C) | Latin -um becomes -a: bacterium, bacteria. |
| 8 (A) | VIS-it is stressed on the first part, so the t is not doubled. | 20 (A) | Latin -um / -a: datum, data. |
| 9 (C) | Double r and double s. | 21 (A) | Principal = the head of a school; a principle is a rule. |
| 10 (A) | Double m, double t, double e. | 22 (C) | Stationery (with e, for envelope) = pens and paper; stationary = not moving. |
| 11 (D) | Weird is an exception to "i before e". | 23 (B) | Same sound, different spelling and meaning. (A) is a homonym pair; (C) synonyms; (D) antonyms. |
| 12 (B) | The silent e goes before -ing. Hopping comes from hop (to jump). | 24 (B) | Same spelling and same sound, different meanings. The others are homophones. |
