Language & Literature · Unit 5

Spelling and Word Building

Spelling patterns, plurals, prefixes and suffixes

English spelling is more patterned than it looks. Most irregularities are regular within the language a word came from, and knowing the patterns beats memorising words one at a time.

The unit covers common spelling patterns, plurals, prefixes and suffixes, silent letters, and the genuinely irregular words that just have to be learned.

This unit breaks down into 21 short steps and 127 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 21
Questions: 127
Difficulty: 1-3

What this unit covers

Silent Letters
Making Plurals
Common Spelling Patterns
Prefixes and Suffixes
Tricky Words

Where this fits

Follows Letters and Sounds. Building Vocabulary continues it.

Where people slip

Silent letters usually record something. The k in knight was pronounced, and the spelling preserves a pronunciation that changed.

How the unit is structured

Spelling and Word Building runs as 21 short steps that unlock in order. 15 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 21 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 127 in the unit altogether.

Common Spelling Patterns

Build the sentenceLevel 1
1. Build the rule: the letters ay often appear at the end of a word.
Answer: The letters ay often appear at the end of a word
This is a common spelling rule for the long a sound at the end of words like play and day.
Fill the blankLevel 1
2. The letters 'igh' in the word 'light' spell the sound ____.
- long icorrect
- long e
- short i
- long o
The pattern 'igh' spells the long i sound, like in light and night.
Odd one outLevel 1
3. Which word does NOT belong with the others in its vowel pattern?
- bonecorrect
- boat
- coat
- road
Boat, coat and road all use 'oa' for the long o sound, but bone uses silent e instead.
Fact or fibLevel 2
4. The word "stopping" doubles the p because stop ends in one vowel and one consonant.
Answer: True
Stop has a single short vowel before the final consonant, so it doubles.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
5. Which spelling follows the rule "i before e except after c"?
- believecorrect
- recieve
- decieve
- concieve
Believe follows the classic i-before-e pattern.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
6. Which of these words correctly drop the silent e before adding a vowel suffix? Pick all that apply.
- caring (from care)correct
- writable (from write)correct
- careing (from care)
- writeable (from write)
Care and write both drop the silent e before -ing or -able, becoming caring and writable.

Making Plurals

Guess the numberLevel 1
7. How many letters are added to 'cat' to make the plural 'cats'?
Answer: 1 letters
Only one letter, s, is added to cat to make cats.
Build the sentenceLevel 2
8. Build the sentence: Some plural nouns do not end in the letter s.
Answer: Some plural nouns do not end in the letter s
This sentence describes irregular plurals like children or feet.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
9. Which of these words form their plural by adding es, not just s? Pick all that apply.
- buscorrect
- churchcorrect
- cat
- dog
Words ending in s, x, ch, or sh usually add es to form the plural.
Fill the blankLevel 2
10. The plural of "baby" is ____.
- babiescorrect
- babys
- babyes
- babes
When a noun ends in a consonant plus y, change y to i and add es.
Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each singular word to its correct plural.
Answer: mouse = mice; foot = feet; leaf = leaves; tooth = teeth
Some plurals are formed with simple rules and some are irregular and must be learned.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
12. What is the correct plural of "box"?
- boxescorrect
- boxs
- boxies
- boxxes
Words ending in x add es to form the plural, giving boxes.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Build the sentenceLevel 2
13. Build the sentence: A prefix is added to the beginning of a word.
Answer: A prefix is added to the beginning of a word
This sentence describes what a prefix is and where it goes in a word.
Fill the blankLevel 2
14. Adding the suffix ____ to 'help' makes 'helpless', meaning without help.
- lesscorrect
- ful
- ing
- er
The suffix less means without, so helpless means without help.
Match the pairsLevel 2
15. Match each prefix or suffix to its meaning.
Answer: un = not; re = again; ful = full of; less = without
Learning common prefixes and suffixes helps you guess the meaning of new words.
Odd one outLevel 2
16. Which word does NOT use the prefix re- meaning "again"?
- restcorrect
- redo
- rewrite
- replay
Rest is not built from the prefix re- plus a base word; it is its own word.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
17. Which of these correctly add a suffix to 'beauty'? Pick all that apply.
- beautifulcorrect
- beautifullycorrect
- beautyful
- beautyfully
Beauty changes y to i before -ful and -fully, giving beautiful and beautifully.
Multiple choiceLevel 3
18. Which prefix means 'not' in the word 'impossible'?
- im-correct
- pos-
- sible-
- im-poss-
The prefix im- means not, changing possible into its opposite.

Silent Letters

Choose all that applyLevel 2
19. Which of these words have a silent letter? Pick all that apply.
- wristcorrect
- lambcorrect
- strong
- plant
Both wrist and lamb contain a letter that is not pronounced.
Fact or fibLevel 2
20. In the word 'plumber', the letter b is pronounced.
Answer: False
The b in plumber is silent, coming from an older spelling of the word.
Fill the blankLevel 2
21. In the word "____", the b at the end is silent, as in a small round musical instrument you shake or hit.
- thumbcorrect
- drum
- bell
- horn
The word thumb has a silent b, just like comb and lamb.
Match the pairsLevel 2
22. Match each word to its silent letter.
Answer: knife = k; honest = h; listen = t; gnat = g
Each of these common words hides one letter that is not pronounced.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
23. Which letter is silent in the word 'knight'?
- kcorrect
- n
- g
- t
The k at the start of knight is not pronounced.
Odd one outLevel 2
24. Which of these words does NOT have a silent letter?
- plantcorrect
- gnome
- honest
- listen
Plant is pronounced exactly as it looks, with no silent letters.

Tricky Words

Fact or fibLevel 2
25. The word "definitely" is often misspelled as "definately", but the correct spelling has an i, not an a.
Answer: True
Definitely comes from definite, so it keeps the i, not an a.
Guess the numberLevel 2
26. How many s letters are in the correctly spelled word 'necessary'?
Answer: 2 letters
Necessary has exactly two s letters, positioned after the double c ends.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
27. Which is the correct spelling of the word for the day after today?
- tomorrowcorrect
- tommorrow
- tomorow
- tommorow
Tomorrow has one m and two rs, a common tricky spelling.
Build the sentenceLevel 3
28. Build the sentence: Checking a dictionary helps you spell tricky words correctly.
Answer: Checking a dictionary helps you spell tricky words correctly
This sentence reminds learners that a dictionary is a reliable spelling tool.
Fill the blankLevel 3
29. The word meaning 'to happen' is spelled o-c-c-u-r; when adding -ed it becomes ____.
- occurredcorrect
- occured
- occureed
- occurrred
Occur doubles the final r before -ed because the stress falls on the last syllable.
Match the pairsLevel 3
30. Match each correct spelling to its common misspelling.
Answer: separate = seperate; embarrass = embarass; rhythm = rythm; government = goverment
These tricky words are frequently misspelled in the ways shown.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 14 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Picture question
Put in order
Sort into groups
Spell it
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Spelling and Word Building

127 questions across 21 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Spelling and Word Building

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

Why Is English Spelling So Irregular? Six Centuries of Sounds That MovedEnglish spelling records how words sounded in 1400; the sounds moved afterwards. The vowel shift, the printers, the Latin pedants and the reforms that failed.September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

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