Spelling Check

Spelling Check — Study Notes for SBI Clerk Prelims

Overview

Spelling Check questions test your ability to identify correctly or incorrectly spelt words from a given set of options. Unlike grammar or comprehension, spelling questions have no grey area — the answer is either right or wrong, making them high-scoring if you have prepared well.

The challenge is that English spelling often defies logical patterns. Words borrowed from Latin, Greek, French, and other languages follow different rules, and many common words have silent letters, doubled consonants, or unusual vowel combinations. The good news: exam setters tend to repeat certain categories of tricky words. By learning the patterns behind common spelling errors, you can quickly eliminate wrong options and secure easy marks.

This topic rewards consistent reading habits over last-minute cramming. Students who read newspapers, editorials, or English books regularly develop an intuitive sense for correct spellings. For those starting fresh, focus on the high-frequency error patterns listed below.

Key Concepts

• Silent letters are spelling traps: Words like "knowledge," "psychology," "debt," and "receipt" contain letters you don't hear when speaking. These frequently appear in exams.
• Double consonants follow specific patterns: Words ending in a single vowel + single consonant usually double the consonant before adding -ed or -ing (occur → occurred, refer → referred). Exceptions exist and are tested often.
• The "i before e except after c" rule has many exceptions: "Receive," "ceiling," and "deceive" follow the rule, but "weird," "seize," and "neither" break it.
• Suffixes change spelling in predictable ways: Adding -ful creates one 'l' (beautiful, not beautifull). Adding -ly to words ending in 'l' keeps both (finally, usually).
• American vs British spellings both appear: SBI generally accepts both, but be consistent. Common pairs: color/colour, center/centre, honor/honour, realize/realise.
• Greek and Latin roots have fixed spellings: Words with "ph" for 'f' sound (philosophy, phenomenon), "ch" for 'k' sound (character, chemistry), and "ps" for 's' sound (psychology, pseudonym).
• Homophones are deliberate traps: Words that sound alike but spell differently (stationary/stationery, principal/principle, affect/effect) are exam favourites.
• Prefixes generally don't change the root spelling: Mis + spell = misspell (two s's). Un + necessary = unnecessary (two n's). Dis + satisfied = dissatisfied (two s's).

Formulas / Key Facts

Must-Remember Spelling Rules:

1. -ie/-ei rule: Use 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' when the sound is 'ee'. Exceptions: weird, seize, neither, leisure, protein.
2. Final 'e' drops before vowel suffixes: hope → hoping, make → making. But keeps before consonant suffixes: hope → hopeful.
3. Final 'y' changes to 'i' before suffixes: happy → happiness, beauty → beautiful. Exception: when suffix starts with 'i' (study → studying).
4. -ible vs -able: Use -ible after soft 'g' or 'c' (legible, forcible) and Latin roots (visible, terrible). Use -able after complete words (dependable, laughable).
5. -tion vs -sion: Use -tion after most consonants. Use -sion after 'l', 'n', 'r', or 's' (expulsion, extension, immersion, discussion).

Commonly Misspelt Words in Bank Exams:

Worked Examples

Example 1: Find the correctly spelt word

Options: (a) Ocassion (b) Occassion (c) Occasion (d) Ocasion

Solution:

• Check the 'c' and 's' pattern. The word has two c's and one s.
• "Occasion" follows the pattern: oc-ca-sion (double c, single s).
• Answer: (c) Occasion

Example 2: Find the incorrectly spelt word

Options: (a) Surveillance (b) Perseverance (c) Maintenance (d) Attendence

Solution:

• Surveillance — correct (French origin, -ance ending)
• Perseverance — correct (-ance ending after 'r')
• Maintenance — correct (maintain + -ance, but note spelling)
• Attendence — incorrect. Should be "Attendance" (attend + -ance)
• Answer: (d) Attendence

Example 3: Find the correctly spelt word

Options: (a) Recomendation (b) Reccommendation (c) Recommendation (d) Recommandation

Solution:

• Root word is "recommend" — one 'c', two 'm's.
• Adding -ation: recommend + ation = recommendation.
• Answer: (c) Recommendation

Common Mistakes

Wrong thinking: "I'll spell it how it sounds." Correct fix: English pronunciation often misleads. "February" has two 'r's, "Wednesday" has a silent 'd', "library" has two 'r's. Learn visual patterns, not phonetic guesses.

Wrong thinking: "Double consonants appear randomly." Correct fix: Doubling follows rules. One-syllable words with short vowels double the final consonant (run → running). Two-syllable words double when stress is on the second syllable (occur → occurred, but offer → offered).

Wrong thinking: "All -ance and -ence words sound the same, so I'll guess." Correct fix: Build word families. Attend → attendance, depend → dependence. The verb form often hints at the suffix. Words ending in -ant take -ance; words ending in -ent take -ence.

Wrong thinking: "I recognize this word, so it's correct." Correct fix: Exam setters use near-correct spellings that look familiar. Always check each letter systematically, especially double letters and vowel combinations.

Wrong thinking: "The longest or most complex-looking option must be wrong." Correct fix: Some correctly spelt words are genuinely long (conscientious, entrepreneurship). Judge by spelling rules, not length.

Quick Reference

• Double c, double m: accommodation, recommend, accidental
• Double r: occurrence, embarrass, irregular,orrhea
• Silent letters: knowledge (k), psychology (p), receipt (p), debt (b)
• -ance vs -ence: maintenance, attendance, independence, excellence
• -able vs -ible: available, responsible, comfortable, flexible
• ie/ei: believe, receive, achieve, ceiling, weird (exception)