Pi Leo Academy · Year 4 English

Spelling and word knowledge

80 questions and practical tasks · Victorian Curriculum English Version 2.0 · Level 4 · VC2E4LY03

Questions with a separate answer key and review guidance.

Circle one option for multiple-choice questions. Use the response spaces or extra paper for longer work.

Name: ________________________________   Date: __________________

Answers and review guidance

Open responses, handwriting and spoken tasks need adult review. The models are examples; different responses may meet the criteria.

Question 1

Answer: library

Library has three written parts to notice: li, bra and ry. Keep the first r even if it is less clear in quick speech.

Question 2

Answer: teacher

Teacher keeps teach and adds the suffix -er. The vowel sound in teach is written ea.

Question 3

Answer: playground

Playground is a compound word made from play and ground. Keeping both complete words helps you spell it.

Question 4

Answer: vegetable

Vegetable keeps the written sequence veget- even when the middle vowel is hard to hear. Notice the ending -able.

Question 5

Answer: weather

Weather has ea after w and the ending -ther. Wether is a different word, not the word for conditions outside.

Question 6

Answer: ferry

Ferry has a doubled r and ends in y. The two r letters help mark the short first vowel.

Question 7

Answer: watermelon

Watermelon combines water and melon. Melon has one l, so the compound does too.

Question 8

Answer: triangle

Triangle begins with tri-, meaning three, and keeps the spelling angle at the end.

Question 9

Answer: aquarium

Aquarium starts with aqua-, a part associated with water, and ends in -rium.

Question 10

Answer: caterpillar

Caterpillar has one t and a double l. Reading cater and pillar as chunks can help you remember the whole spelling.

Question 11

Answer: cousin

Cousin uses ou even though that vowel sounds like the vowel in cup. It has one s and ends in -in.

Question 12

Answer: together

Together is written to-geth-er. There is no a in the middle part.

Question 13

Answer: kangaroo

Kangaroo ends with roo, including a double o. There is only one g.

Question 14

Answer: protection

Protection keeps protect and adds -ion. The t is already present in protect, so another t is not added.

Question 15

Answer: temperature

Temperature keeps temper- before -ature. Say the word slowly and check the written order of e, r and a.

Question 16

Answer: recycling

Recycling comes from recycle. Drop the final e before adding -ing, while keeping the c before l.

Question 17

Answer: thunder

Thunder begins with th and ends in -er. Its middle vowel is u.

Question 18

Answer: everyone

Everyone joins every and one. Keep all the letters in every when forming the compound.

Question 19

Answer: address

Address has both a double d and a double s. There are two d letters, not three.

Question 20

Answer: butterfly

Butterfly combines butter and fly. Butter keeps its double t and fly keeps its final y.

Question 21

Answer: display

Display begins with dis- and ends with play. The long a sound is written ay at the end.

Question 22

Answer: enormous

Enormous ends in -ous. The final syllable has an o even though that vowel may sound weak.

Question 23

Answer: calendar

Calendar has one l and ends in -ar. The middle vowel after l is e.

Question 24

Answer: performance

Performance keeps perform and adds -ance. The first syllable is per-, not pre-.

Question 25

Answer: sensible

Sensible ends in -ible and uses s after n. Remember the written ending even though its vowel is weak.

Question 26

Answer: decision

Decision has c after de and one s in the ending -sion. The related word decide helps you remember the first c.

Question 27

Answer: visit

Visit has one s and an i in each syllable. The s represents the sound heard in the middle of the word.

Question 28

Answer: comfortable

Comfortable keeps the complete base comfort before -able, even when some vowels are reduced in speech.

Question 29

Answer: article

Article ends with -icle. Notice that the final two letters are l then e.

Question 30

Answer: equipment

Equipment keeps equip and adds -ment. Do not add a t between the base and the suffix.

Question 31

Answer: hoping

Drop the final e in hope before adding -ing. Hopping comes from hop and has a different meaning.

Question 32

Answer: hopping

Hop has a short vowel followed by one final consonant. Double the p before adding -ing: hopping.

Question 33

Answer: stopped

Double the final p in stop before the vowel suffix -ed: stopped.

Question 34

Answer: happier

Change the y after the consonant p to i before adding -er. Keep both p letters.

Question 35

Answer: kindness

Keep kind unchanged and add -ness, which ends with two s letters.

Question 36

Answer: careful

Keep the e in care before the consonant suffix -ful. The suffix -ful has one l.

Question 37

Answer: hopeless

Keep hope before -less. The suffix begins with a consonant and ends with two s letters.

Question 38

Answer: quickly

Quickly keeps quick, including ck, and adds -ly without another vowel.

Question 39

Answer: easily

Change the final y in easy to i before adding -ly: easily.

Question 40

Answer: babies

Baby ends in a consonant followed by y. Change y to i and add -es.

Question 41

Answer: keys

Key ends in a vowel followed by y. Keep the y and add s.

Question 42

Answer: carried

Change y after a consonant to i before adding -ed. The double r in carry remains.

Question 43

Answer: carrying

Keep the y when adding -ing to carry. Do not change it to i before another i.

Question 44

Answer: uncertain

Keep the base certain unchanged and place un- in front of it.

Question 45

Answer: rewrite

Re- goes before the whole base write. The silent w and final e remain.

Question 46

Answer: disappear

Join dis and appear. The result has one s but keeps the double p in appear.

Question 47

Answer: misspell

Mis- ends in s and spell starts with s, so both s letters are needed. Spell also keeps its double l.

Question 48

Answer: enjoyment

Enjoy remains unchanged before -ment. The y follows a vowel and is retained.

Question 49

Answer: information

The related noun is information. Its written ending is -ation after inform.

Question 50

Answer: comfortable

Keep comfort and add -able. The final t is not doubled in this word.

Question 51

Answer: teacher

Teacher contains the base teach and the suffix -er. Sharing some letters or a rhyme does not make words a base-word family.

Question 52

Answer: helpless

Helpless contains the complete base help and the suffix -less.

Question 53

Answer: cheer

Cheerful is made from cheer and -ful. Identifying the base helps you preserve its ee spelling.

Question 54

Answer: dark

Darkness contains dark and -ness. Keep the complete base when adding the suffix.

Question 55

Answer: actor

Actor contains act and -or, just as action contains act and -ion. The other words do not contain the base act.

Question 56

Answer: washable

Washable keeps wash and adds -able, meaning able to be. The sh is not doubled.

Question 57

Answer: unfair

Unfair adds un- to fair. Keep the spelling fair, which means just or reasonable in this use.

Question 58

Answer: repack

Repack joins re-, meaning again, to the unchanged word pack.

Question 59

Answer: beautiful

In beautiful, change the final y of beauty to i before -ful. The suffix has one l.

Question 60

Answer: magical

Magical keeps magic and adds -al. The c stays even though its sound differs from the c in magician.

Question 61

Answer: musical

Musical keeps music and adds -al. The letters i and c stay in their original order.

Question 62

Answer: measurement

Keep the final e in measure before the consonant suffix -ment.

Question 63

Answer: movement

Movement keeps the final e of move before -ment, although moving drops it before -ing.

Question 64

Answer: careless

Careless keeps the base care and adds -less, including its two s letters.

Question 65

Answer: preheat

Preheat and preview both begin with pre-, meaning before: heat beforehand and view beforehand. The other words do not use pre- with this meaning.

Question 66

Answer: reader

Teacher and reader both use ea for the long-e sound. The other words use different written patterns.

Question 67

Answer: payment

Play and payment both use ay. Painter uses ai; paper and eight use other patterns.

Question 68

Answer: shower

Flower and shower use ow for the sound in cow. Louder uses ou; shoulder and floater have different vowel sounds.

Question 69

Answer: photograph

Photograph uses ph in both photo- and -graph. Recognising these parts of Greek origin helps explain why the two /f/ sounds are not spelt f.

Question 70

Answer: television

Television keeps tele-, a part of Greek origin referring to distance. Knowing that written part helps you choose e after l rather than i or a.

Question 71

Answer: aquatic

Aquatic is related to Latin aqua and keeps its aqua spelling. The word has one t before the ending -ic.

Question 72

Answer: ch

The letters ch represent /k/ in school. Its word history helps explain an unusual letter pattern; ch does not always have the sound it has in chair.

Question 73

Answer: microphone

Microphone keeps -phone, including ph for the /f/ sound and its final e. This same written part appears in telephone.

Question 74

Answer: barked

The past-tense ending is written -ed even though it sounds like /t/ in barked.

Question 75

Answer: called

Called keeps the double l in call and adds -ed, even though the ending sounds like /d/.

Question 76

Answer: waited

Waited keeps wait and adds -ed. The ai vowel pattern stays together.

Question 77

Answer: colour

The Australian English spelling is colour. Notice the sequence o-l-o-u-r after c.

Question 78

Answer: neighbour

Neighbour keeps the letter group eigh and uses the Australian English ending -our.

Question 79

Answer: butterflies

Change the consonant-plus-y ending of butterfly to -ies. Keep the rest of the compound word.

Question 80

Answer: buses

Add -es to bus because it ends in s. The standard plural is buses, with one s before the ending.