Civil Service Exam: Word Relationship Questions - Spelling and Vocabulary

In all civil service jobs, communication abilities are extremely important, whether the position is considered skilled or unskilled.

If you're hired for a government job, there's a good chance that you'll be interacting with the public as part of the job. You'll also be required to communicate with colleagues and superiors frequently. Good communication skills will enable you to perform your job smoothly and efficiently, get along well with your coworkers and bosses, and create a positive impression on members of the public.

Whether spoken or written, words are at the heart of all communication, so having good verbal skills is essential. You'll need to be able to express yourself clearly as well as to easily grasp what a coworker or manager is trying to say. This is why questions that test your skill with words constitute such a big part of the civil service exam. They're on the test to weed out people who don't have the verbal skills necessary for success on the job.

You'll be tested on your spelling abilities. Why is good spelling important in this day and age when nearly all written communication is done on computers, and nearly all of them have spell checkers? Spelling skills are important because they demonstrate that you have good, basic intelligence and that you have done a fair amount of reading. Knowing how to spell correctly is one of the marks of a person with a well-rounded education. While it's true that there are some very smart people who are not very good spellers, these are the exception, not the rule. Generally speaking, smart people are good spellers, and vice versa.

Spell checkers are certainly very useful tools, but they weren't designed to eliminate the need for good spelling. Their purpose is to call the typist's attention to the occasional mistake that might be easily overlooked, not to replace the typist. Every time the spell checker flags a word, the typist has to click either Replace or Ignore, and that takes time. With one or two errors, it doesn't take very long, of course, but a person with poor spelling skills would use up a significant amount of time correcting mistakes, even with a spell checker. This would have a negative impact on productivity. Additionally, a spell checker won't catch a word that is spelled correctly but is the wrong one (such as to/too/two). Good spelling skills are very important in civil service jobs, and you should expect to see a lot of spelling questions on the exam.

You'll also be tested for vocabulary, which measures your knowledge of word meanings. Your vocabulary is simply the total of the words you recognize and understand. Keep in mind that if a word is in your vocabulary it doesn't necessarily mean that you hear, read, write, or speak that word on a regular basis. (The words you use on a regular basis are known as your working vocabulary.)

There are thousands of words we don't encounter regularly, but we still need to know the meaning of many of these. Many of the words you'll see on the vocabulary section of your civil service test will fall into this category —words most people don't use in everyday conversation with their families and friends, but that might come up from time to time on the job or while reading. It will be fairly easy to understand how knowing the meaning of these words is important for a civil service position. However, it is certain that you'll also run into some words on the exam that you are very unlikely to encounter on the job.

So, if these words aren't going to come up in the course of your job duties, why are they on the civil service exam? They're on the test because they serve a very useful function for government agencies that use these exams as part of the hiring process. A person's vocabulary is a very good measuring stick of his/her overall knowledge and intelligence. With very few exceptions, an extensive vocabulary is a mark of someone who is very intelligent. This is only logical—the more words a person knows, the more reading he/she has done, and the more subjects and fields he/she is familiar with. Generally speaking, employers would prefer to hire people with above-average levels of knowledge and intelligence, and that's why you'll see unusual and rarely used vocabulary words on the exam.

Also, a person with a large vocabulary will generally be a more effective communicator. A person with a limited vocabulary will have a hard time understanding others and clearly expressing himself precisely because he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words. There's no need to panic, though. You won't be required to possess the vocabulary of a Harvard professor in order to do well on the civil service exam. You will just need a vocabulary that's pretty good. If you don't think yours measures up, the practice questions in this guide can help remedy that.

Some of the vocabulary questions you'll see will simply show you a word, and then ask you to select the answer choice that is the correct meaning of the word.

Here's an example:

1. Crevice is closest in meaning to: a. a serving platter b. a large hole c. a narrow opening d. the fringe on a drape

The basic vocabulary questions on the test you take might have a slightly different format. There may be three answer choices, or possibly five. Instead of standing alone, the word may be used in a sentence.
The answer choices might have slightly longer definitions. However, there won't be any major differences, as this is the standard setup for a straightforward vocabulary question.

Spelling Basics

Spelling Rules

Words Ending with a Consonant
Usually the final consonant is doubled on a word before adding a suffix. This is the rule for single syllable words, words ending with one consonant, and multi-syllable words with the last syllable accented. For example:
beg becomes begging (single syllable)
shop becomes shopped (single syllable)
add becomes adding (already ends in double consonant, do not add another 'd')
deter becomes deterring (multi-syllable, accent on last syllable)
regret becomes regrettable (multi-syllable, accent on last syllable)
compost becomes composting (do not add another 't' because the accent is on the first syllable)

Words Ending in y and c
The general rule for words ending in y is to keep the y when adding a suffix if the y is preceded by a vowel. If the word ends in a consonant and y, the y is changed to an i before the suffix is added (unless the suffix itself begins with i). The following are examples:
pay becomes paying (keep the y)
bully becomes bullied (change to i)
bully becomes bullying (keep the y because the suffix begins with i)
If a word ends with c and the suffix begins with an e, i, or y, the letter k is usually added to the end of the word. The following are examples: panic becomes panicky mimic becomes mimicking

Words Ending in ie, ei, and e
Most words are spelled with an i before e, except when they follow the letter c OR sound like a long a. For example, the following words are spelled correctly according to these rules: piece, friend, believe (i before e) receive, ceiling, conceited (except after c) weight, neighborhood, veil (sounds like a)

To add a suffix to words ending with the letter e, first determine if the e is silent. If it is, the e will be kept if the added suffix begins with a consonant.

If the suffix begins with a vowel, the e is dropped. For example:
age becomes ageless (keep the e)
age becomes aging (drop the e) A. exception to this rule occurs when the word ends in ce or ge and the suffix able or ous is added; these words will retain the letter e. The following are examples: courage becomes courageous notice becomes noticeable

Words Ending with ise and ize
A small number of words end with ise. A much more common ending in American English is ize.
The following are examples of the first group: advertise, advise, arise, chastise, circumcise, and comprise compromise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, enterprise, excise, and exercise franchise, improvise, incise, merchandise, premise, reprise, and revise supervise, surmise, surprise, and televise
Words that end with ize include the following: accessorize, agonize, authorize, and brutalize capitalize, caramelize, categorize, civilize, and demonize downsize, empathize, euthanize, idolize, and immunize legalize, metabolize, mobilize, organize, and ostracize plagiarize, privatize, utilize, and visualize
(Note that some words may technically be spelled with ise, especially in British English, but it is more common to use ize.
Examples include symbolize/symbolise, and baptize/baptise.)

Words Ending with ceed, sede, and cede
Only three words end with ceed in the English language: exceed, proceed, and succeed. There is only one word that ends with sede, and that word is supersede.
Many words end with cede, such as concede, recede, and precede.

Words Ending in able or ible
For words ending in able or ible, there are no hard and fast rules. There are more words ending in able
than ible. This is useful information if guessing becomes necessary.
The following are examples: adjustable, unbeatable, collectable, deliverable, and likeable edible, compatible, feasible, sensible, and credible

Words Ending in ance and ence
The suffixes ence, ency, and ent are used in the following cases: the suffix is preceded by the letter c but sounds like s—innocence the suffix is preceded by the letter g but sounds like j—intelligent, negligence
The suffixes ance, ancy, and ant are used in the following cases: the suffix is preceded by the letter c but sounds like k—significant, vacancy the suffix is preceded by the letter g with a hard sound—elegant, extravagance
If the suffix is preceded by other letters, there are no firm rules. For example: finance and defendant use the letter a, while respondent, competence, and excellent use the letter e.

Words Ending in tion, sion, and cian
The word endings tion, sion, and cian all sound like shun or zhun.
There are no rules for which ending is used for words. The following are examples: action, agitation, caution, fiction, nation, and motion admission, expression, mansion, permission, and television
electrician, magician, musician, optician, and physician (note that these words tend to describe occupations)

Words with the ai or ia Combination
When deciding if ai or ia is correct, the combination of ai usually sounds like one vowel sound, as in Britain, while the vowels in ia are pronounced separately, as in guardian. The following are examples: captain, certain, faint, hair, malaise, and praise (ai makes one sound) beneficiary, certifiable, civilian, humiliation, and abbreviate
(ia makes two sounds)

Plural Forms of Nouns

Nouns Ending in ch, sh, s, x, or z
When a noun ends in the letters ch, sh, s, x, or z, an es instead of a single s is added to the end of the word to make it plural. The following are examples: church becomes churches bush becomes bushes bass becomes basses mix becomes mixes buzz becomes buzzes
This is the rule with proper names as well; the Ross family would become the Rosses.

Nouns Ending in y
If a noun ends with a consonant and y, the plural is formed by replacing the y with ies. For example, fly becomes flies and puppy becomes puppies.
If a noun ends with a vowel and y, the plural is formed by adding an s. For example, alley becomes alleys and boy becomes boys.

Nouns Ending in f or fe
Most nouns ending in f or fe are pluralized by replacing the f with v and adding es. For example, knife
becomes knives, self becomes selves, and wolf becomes wolves. A. exception to this rule is the word roof, which becomes roofs.

Nouns Ending in o
Most nouns ending with a consonant and o are pluralized by adding es. For example, hero becomes heroes, tornado becomes tornadoes, and potato becomes potatoes.
Most nouns ending with a vowel and o are pluralized by adding s. For example, portfolio becomes portfolios, radio becomes radios, and shoe becomes shoes. A. exception to these rules is seen with musical terms ending in o. These words are pluralized by adding s even if they end in a consonant and o. For example, soprano becomes sopranos, banjo becomes banjos, and piano becomes pianos.

Exceptions to the Rules of Plurals
Some words do not fall into any specific category for making the singular form plural. They are irregular. Certain words become plural by changing the vowels within the word. For example, woman becomes women, goose becomes geese, and foot becomes feet.
Some words become completely different words in the plural form. For example, mouse becomes mice, fungus becomes fungi, and alumnus becomes alumni.
Some words are the same in both the singular and plural forms. Salmon, species, and deer are the same, singular or plural.

Plural Forms of Letters, Numbers, Symbols, and Compound Nouns with Hyphens
Letters and numbers become plural by adding an apostrophe and s. The following are examples:
The L's are the people whose names begin with the letter L.
They broke the teams down into groups of 3's.
The sorority girls were all KD's.

A compound noun is comprised of two or more words that can be written with hyphens. For example, mother-in-lawand court-martial are compound nouns.
To make them plural, an s or es is added to the main word. Mother-in-law becomes mothers-in-law and court-martial becomes court-martials.

Useful word list:

accidentally
characteristic
dissipate
hoping
ninety
accommodate
chauffeur
drudgery
hurriedly
noticeable
accompanied
colonel
ecstasy
hygiene
notoriety
accompany
column
efficient
hypocrisy
obedience
achieved
commit
eighth
imminent
obstacle
acknowledgment
committee
eligible
incidentally
occasion
across
comparative
embarrass
incredible
occurrence
address
compel
emphasize
independent
omitted
aggravate
competent
especially
indigestible
operate
aisle
competition
exaggerate
inevitable
optimistic
ancient
conceive
exceed
innocence
organization
anxiety
congratulations
exhaust
intelligible
outrageous
apparently
conqueror
exhilaration
intentionally
pageant
appearance
conscious
existence
intercede
pamphlet
arctic
coolly
explanation
interest
parallel
argument
correspondent
extraordinary
irresistible
parliament
arrangement
courtesy
familiar
judgment
permissible
attendance
curiosity
fascinate
legitimate
perseverance
auxiliary
cylinder
February
liable
persuade
awkward
deceive
fiery
library
physically
bachelor
deference
finally
likelihood
physician
barbarian
deferred
forehead
literature
possess
beggar
definite
foreign
maintenance
possibly
beneficiary
describe
foreigner
maneuver
practically
biscuit
desirable
foremost
manual
prairie
brilliant
desperate
forfeit
mathematics
preceding
business
develop
ghost
mattress
prejudice
cafeteria
diphtheria
glamorous
miniature
prevalent
calendar
disappear
government
mischievous
professor
campaign
disappoint
grammar
misspell
pronouncement
candidate
disastrous
grateful
momentous
pronunciation
ceiling
discipline
grief
mortgage
propeller
cemetery
discussion
grievous
neither
protein
changeable
disease
handkerchief
nickel
psychiatrist
changing
dissatisfied
harass
niece
psychology
quantity
restaurant
sheriff
symmetry
usage
questionnaire
rhetoric
shriek
temperament
vacuum
rally
rhythm
similar
temperature
valuable
recede
ridiculous
soliloquy
tendency
vengeance
receive
sacrilegious
sophomore
tournament
vigilance
recognize
salary
species
tragedy
villain
recommend
scarcely
strenuous
transferred
Wednesday
referral
schedule
studying
truly
weird
referred
secretary
suffrage
twelfth
wholly
relieve
sentinel
supersede
tyranny
yolk
religious
separate
suppress
unanimous
resistance
severely
surprise
unpleasant