Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz: Spelling Multisyllabic Words
10 questions · exam conditions
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Spelling Multisyllabic WordsQuestion 1 of 10

A volunteer revised this sentence for a donation receipt: "The business   several boxes of supplies." The word comes from offer plus -ed.

Which spelling should the volunteer use?

offerred
oferred
offered
offerd
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Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz

Adult Literacy Intermediate Quiz: Spelling Multisyllabic Words

Practice Spelling Multisyllabic Words in Adult Literacy Intermediate with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Spelling Multisyllabic Words, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Adult Literacy Intermediate.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

A volunteer revised this sentence for a donation receipt: "The business   several boxes of supplies." The word comes from offer plus -ed.

Which spelling should the volunteer use?

  1. offerred
  2. oferred
  3. offered (correct answer)
  4. offerd
Explanation: When you add a suffix like -ed to a base word, the key question to ask is: does the base word end in a single consonant after a single short vowel? If so, you double that final consonant before adding the suffix. If not, you simply attach -ed directly. The base word here is offer. Notice that it ends in the letters f-e-r, and crucially, the final syllable "fer" is unstressed — you say OF-fer, not of-FER. The doubling rule only applies when the final syllable is stressed. Because the stress falls on the first syllable, you do not double the final r. You simply attach -ed to get offered — making C the correct choice. Looking at the wrong answers: A) offerred doubles the r unnecessarily, which would only be correct if the stress were on the final syllable (like prefer → preferred). This is the most tempting trap because students sometimes over-apply the doubling rule. B) oferred drops one f from the base word itself, which changes the spelling of the root — the base word offer always keeps both f's. D) offerd simply drops the e from the -ed ending, which is never correct in standard English spelling; the suffix is always spelled -ed. A handy tip: before doubling a final consonant, say the word aloud and notice where the stress falls. If it's on the last syllable, double it. If it's on an earlier syllable, just add -ed as-is.

Question 2

A hotel confirmation says, "Your overnight   includes breakfast and parking." The missing noun is formed from accommodate and -ion.

Which spelling correctly completes the confirmation?

  1. accomodation
  2. acommodation
  3. accommodation (correct answer)
  4. accommodateion
Explanation: When a word is formed by adding a suffix like -ion to a base verb, you need to preserve the correct spelling of the root word first, then attach the suffix cleanly. Here, the base word is accommodate, and your job is to spell it accurately before adding -ion. Accommodate is one of the most commonly misspelled words in English because it contains two c's and two m's — a double consonant pair that many people shorten by mistake. Remembering that both consonants are doubled is the key to getting this right. Adding -ion is then straightforward: drop the final e from accommodate and attach -ion, giving you accommodation — answer C. Looking at the wrong choices, A (accomodation) has the right double-c but drops one of the m's — a very common error. B (acommodation) makes the opposite mistake, keeping both m's but reducing the double-c to a single c. Both A and B reflect the same trap: people instinctively feel that having two doubled consonants in one word looks like "too much," so they eliminate one pair. D (accommodateion) simply tacks -ion onto the full base word without removing the final e first, which breaks standard English suffix rules. A helpful memory trick: think of the word as needing to accommodate two things at once — two c's and two m's, because the word itself "makes room" for both. On spelling questions like this, always ask yourself whether the root word has any double letters before adding a suffix.

Question 3

A job description states, "The assistant will accept   for opening and closing the office." The noun is formed by adding -ity to responsible.

Which spelling correctly forms the noun?

  1. responsability
  2. responsiblity
  3. responsibilety
  4. responsibility (correct answer)
Explanation: When you add a suffix like -ity to an adjective, the base word sometimes changes spelling before the suffix attaches. This question tests whether you know exactly how responsible transforms when it becomes a noun. Start with the adjective: responsible. To attach -ity, you drop the final -e and keep the internal spelling intact, giving you responsibil + ity = responsibility. Notice the key cluster in the middle: -ibil-. That sequence must stay exactly as it appears in the root word. Answer D, responsibility, preserves that cluster correctly and is the properly formed noun. Each wrong answer contains a specific spelling error worth recognizing. A, responsability, swaps the -ibil- cluster for -abil-, which is a real suffix in words like capability, but it doesn't belong here — responsible contains -ible, not -able. Students often confuse -able and -ible endings, which leads directly to this mistake. B, responsiblity, drops the second i in the -ibil- cluster, leaving -ibl- instead of -ibil-. It's easy to miss a vowel in a long word, especially when you're reading quickly. C, responsibilety, inserts a rogue e before the -ty ending, creating -bilety instead of -bility. The suffix is simply -ity, with no extra vowel. A useful strategy: when converting a word that ends in -ible to a noun with -ity, say the word slowly syllable by syllable — re-spon-si-bil-i-ty — and write each sound as you go. Sounding out long words prevents the vowel-dropping and vowel-adding errors that appear in A, B, and C.

Question 4

An inventory note says, "The driver is   the returned packages to the front desk." The missing word is formed from carry and -ing.

Which spelling correctly completes the inventory note?

  1. carrrying
  2. carring
  3. carrieing
  4. carrying (correct answer)
Explanation: When you add -ing to a verb that ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, you sometimes need to double the final consonant. But first, check whether the word ends in a silent e or has other spelling quirks — because the rules shift depending on the word's ending. Carry ends in a consonant y, not a silent e and not a doubled consonant. The rule here is straightforward: simply drop nothing and add -ing directly to the base word. Carry + -ing = carrying. The y stays because it acts as part of the consonant cluster, and no letters are dropped or doubled. That makes D the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices helps you spot common traps. A) carrrying adds an extra r, tripling it — there's no spelling rule that ever calls for three of the same consonant in a row, so this is easy to eliminate. B) carring drops one r from the base word entirely, leaving you with only one r when carry has two — this distractor tempts students who confuse carry with shorter words like bar. C) carrieing inserts an e before -ing, which would only apply if the base word ended in a silent e (like dance → dancing) — since carry does not end in e, adding one here is incorrect. A handy tip: before adding -ing, write out the base word clearly, then ask yourself what it ends in. If it ends in y, just attach -ing without changing anything.

Question 5

A community flyer warns residents that road repairs will cause a   change in traffic patterns. The adjective is formed from notice and -able.

Which spelling correctly completes the flyer?

  1. noticable
  2. noticeible
  3. noticeable (correct answer)
  4. notiseable
Explanation: When adding the suffix -able to words ending in a silent e, spelling rules depend on whether that e is doing important work. Normally, you drop a silent e before adding a vowel suffix — but there's a key exception: if the word ends in -ce or -ge, you keep the e so the c or g stays soft. In notice, that final e keeps the c sounding like /s/ rather than /k/. Drop it, and notic- would rhyme with "otic." So the correct spelling preserves the e: noticeable, making C the right answer. Looking at the wrong choices helps you see the traps. Choice A, noticable, drops the e entirely — a natural instinct since we often do drop silent e's before -able, but here it breaks the soft-c rule. Choice B, noticeible, swaps the correct suffix -able for -ible; since notice is a complete base word (not a Latin root), -able is the appropriate suffix. Choice D, notiseable, replaces the c with an s, which is simply a misspelling of the root word notice itself — there is no standard English spelling using notis-. A handy study tip: when you spot -ce or -ge at the end of a word, think "keep the e before -able or -ous" — this same rule applies to words like manageable and courageous. If you remember that the e is a "pronunciation guard," you'll handle this family of words confidently on the exam.

Question 6

The office manager is updating a calendar and writes, "We are   interviews for Thursday morning." The missing word is formed from schedule and -ing.

Which spelling should appear on the updated calendar?

  1. scheduleing
  2. scheduling (correct answer)
  3. schedulling
  4. schedueling
Explanation: When you add -ing to a verb that ends in a silent e, there's a reliable spelling rule you should know: drop the silent e before adding -ing. The word schedule ends in a silent e, so you remove that e and attach -ing directly to what remains: schedul + ing = scheduling. That makes B the correct choice for the calendar entry. Looking at the wrong options helps you see the traps clearly. Choice A, scheduleing, is the most common mistake — the writer kept the silent e before adding -ing. The rule exists precisely to prevent this awkward vowel collision. Choice C, schedulling, doubles the l, which would only apply if the word ended in a single consonant preceded by a single stressed vowel (like run becoming running). Schedule doesn't fit that pattern, so doubling the l is incorrect. Choice D, schedueling, both keeps the e and inserts it in the wrong position, creating a misspelling that doesn't follow any standard English spelling rule. A helpful memory trick: think of the silent e as a placeholder that -ing replaces. When -ing arrives, the e leaves. This drop-the-e rule applies to many everyday words — make becomes making, write becomes writing, take becomes taking. When you encounter an -ing spelling question, your first move should be to check whether the base word ends in a silent e, then apply the rule confidently.

Question 7

After checking the supply closet, a worker reports the sudden   of several cleaning products. The noun is built from dis-, appear, and -ance.

Which spelling correctly combines all three word parts?

  1. dissappearance
  2. disappearance (correct answer)
  3. disappearence
  4. disapearance
Explanation: When combining word parts to build a new word, your job is to join them exactly as they are — no adding or removing letters unless there's a specific rule requiring it. Here, the three parts are dis- (a prefix meaning "not" or "away"), appear (the base word), and -ance (a suffix that turns a verb into a noun). Simply line them up: dis + appear + ance = disappearance. That's why B is correct. Each part contributes its exact letters, and nothing is doubled or dropped. Now let's look at why the other choices fail. Choice A, dissappearance, doubles both the "s" and the "p" — a double error. The prefix dis- has only one "s," and appear begins with one "p," so stacking extras onto either is incorrect. Choice C, disappearence, gets the prefix and base right but misspells the suffix, writing -ence instead of -ance. This is a very common trap because both -ance and -ence are real suffixes, but you have to learn which one belongs to each word — here it's -ance. Choice D, disapearance, drops one "p" from appear, which should have two p's (ap-pear). Losing that letter changes the structure of the base word. A helpful strategy: when you see a long word broken into parts, rebuild it piece by piece and ask, "Did I keep every letter from every part?" Writing out dis + appear + ance step by step prevents the kind of guessing that leads to doubled or dropped letters.

Question 8

A customer-service survey includes the statement, "The staff treated me with patience and  ." The missing noun is formed from happy and -ness.

Which spelling correctly forms the noun needed in the survey?

  1. happiness (correct answer)
  2. happyness
  3. happieness
  4. hapiness
Explanation: When you add a suffix to a word ending in a consonant + y, English spelling follows a reliable rule: change the y to i before adding the suffix — unless the suffix itself starts with i. This rule is being tested here, so recognizing it is your first step. Starting with happy, the base word ends in a consonant (p) followed by y. Because -ness begins with a consonant (n), you apply the rule: drop the y, add i, then attach -ness. That gives you happ + i + ness = happiness, which is choice A — the correct answer. Choice B, happyness, keeps the y in place rather than converting it to i. This is the most common mistake and represents a direct violation of the y-to-i rule. Choice C, happieness, inserts an extra e between the i and -ness, creating a letter combination that doesn't exist in standard English spelling — there's no rule that calls for that e. Choice D, hapiness, drops one of the double p's from the base word. Since happy is spelled with two p's, removing one changes the core spelling of the word itself, which is a separate error from the suffix rule. A helpful tip to carry with you: memorize the phrase "y becomes i before a consonant suffix." Common examples include happy → happiness, heavy → heaviness, and busy → business. When you see a suffix like -ness, -ful, or -ly attaching to a y-ending word, pause and make that swap — it will serve you well across many spelling questions.

Question 9

The supervisor wrote, "Employees are not   to enter the storage room without safety equipment." The missing word is formed from the verb permit and the suffix -ed.

Which spelling correctly completes the supervisor's notice?

  1. permited
  2. permitted (correct answer)
  3. permitied
  4. permetted
Explanation: When you add a suffix like -ed to a verb, you need to pay close attention to the verb's ending. Permit ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant (the "t"), and the stress falls on the last syllable (per-MIT). This combination triggers the doubling rule: you double the final consonant before adding a vowel suffix like -ed. So permit becomes permitted — choice B — which is the correct answer. Now let's look at why the other choices fail. Choice A, permited, applies the suffix directly without doubling the final "t." This violates the doubling rule and also creates a pronunciation problem — a single "t" between two vowels would suggest a different sound entirely. Choice C, permitied, incorrectly swaps -ed for -ied, a ending used when a verb ends in a consonant plus y (like carry → carried). Since permit ends in "t," not "y," this substitution makes no sense here. Choice D, permetted, changes the spelling of the base word itself, replacing the single "m" and "i" with "em" — this isn't a real English word at all and appears to mimic French spelling. A handy tip to remember: when a one- or two-syllable verb ends in a single vowel + single consonant and the stress is on the last syllable, always double that final consonant before adding -ed or -ing. Think of similar words: stop → stopped, begin → beginning, admit → admitted. Recognizing this pattern will help you across many spelling questions on the exam.

Question 10

A building manager writes, "Running water during the inspection is   and may delay the work." The intended word combines the prefix un- with necessary.

Which spelling correctly combines the prefix and the base word?

  1. unnecessary (correct answer)
  2. unecessary
  3. unneccessary
  4. unnecessery
Explanation: When you attach a prefix to a base word, the rule is simple but easy to forget: keep all the letters of both parts intact — no letters are added or dropped. The prefix un- means "not," and the base word here is necessary. Your job is to join them exactly as they are. Spelling out the logic: un- ends in n, and necessary begins with n, which means the combined word will have two n's right in the middle: un + necessary = unnecessary. That makes A) unnecessary the correct spelling. Notice also that necessary itself is spelled with one c, one s, and the ending -ary — not -ery. Looking at the wrong choices helps you see the traps. B) unecessary drops one of the two n's, as if the prefix and base word merged into a shorter form — they don't. C) unneccessary keeps the double n correctly but then doubles the c in necessary, which is wrong; necessary has only one c. D) unnecessery gets the nn right but misspells the ending, swapping the correct -ary for -ery — a very common mix-up with this word. A useful memory trick for necessary on its own: one collar, two socks — one c, double s. Once you have necessary locked in, adding un- is straightforward. On spelling questions like this, always break the word into its parts first, spell each part carefully, then combine them without changing either one.