English Quiz - Spelling: y and i (Questions)

Don't cry like I cried when playing this spelling quiz about the use of y and i!

Don't worry, here are some useful guidelines to help you:

If a word ends in a 'consonant + y', change the 'y' to 'i' when adding an ending, e.g. 'cry-cries', 'merry-merrier/merriest', 'hurry-hurried'
The final 'y' does not change to 'i' when adding the ending '-ing', e.g. 'cry-crying'
If a word ends in a 'consonant + y', change the 'y' to 'ies' when forming the plural, e.g. 'baby-babies', 'lady-ladies'
The letter 'y' is normally used at the end of English words instead of 'i'

Have fun in this 11-plus English quiz and watch out for the exceptions!

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1.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	marry-married
[ ]	pay-payment
[ ]	sloppy-sloppyness
[ ]	daisy-daisies

2.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	key-keys
[ ]	fly-flies
[ ]	day-days
[ ]	puppy-puppys

3.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	hobby-hobbies
[ ]	fry-fried
[ ]	battery-batteries
[ ]	dry-driing

4.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	noisy-noisier
[ ]	busy-busyness
[ ]	funny-funniest
[ ]	sticky-stickiness

5.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	healthy-healthier
[ ]	joy-joiful
[ ]	lazy-lazily
[ ]	buy-buyer

6.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	play-playful
[ ]	study-studious
[ ]	day-dayly
[ ]	greed-greediness

7.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	worry-worries
[ ]	fly-flying
[ ]	copy-copyist
[ ]	gay-gayly

8.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	shy-shiness
[ ]	dreary-drearily
[ ]	belly-bellies
[ ]	mighty-mightiest

9.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	duty-dutiful
[ ]	pretty-prettier
[ ]	apology-apologys
[ ]	party-parties

10.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	delay-delayed
[ ]	toy-toies
[ ]	carry-carrier
[ ]	boy-boys

English Quiz - Spelling: y and i (Answers)

1.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	marry-married
[ ]	pay-payment
[x]	sloppy-sloppyness
[ ]	daisy-daisies

'Sloppyness' breaks Rule 1. It should be 'sloppiness'

2.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	key-keys
[ ]	fly-flies
[ ]	day-days
[x]	puppy-puppys

'Puppys' breaks Rule 3. It should be 'puppies'

3.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	hobby-hobbies
[ ]	fry-fried
[ ]	battery-batteries
[x]	dry-driing

'Driing' breaks Rule 2. It should be 'drying'

4.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	noisy-noisier
[x]	busy-busyness
[ ]	funny-funniest
[ ]	sticky-stickiness

'Busyness' breaks Rule 1. It should be 'business'

5.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	healthy-healthier
[x]	joy-joiful
[ ]	lazy-lazily
[ ]	buy-buyer

'Joiful' is NOT covered by Rule 1 because the word 'joy' ends in a 'vowel + y': in such cases, the 'y' remains unchanged. It should be 'joyful'

6.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	play-playful
[ ]	study-studious
[x]	day-dayly
[ ]	greed-greediness

This is an exception: 'y' changes to 'i'. It should be 'daily'. Learn the exceptions by heart

7.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	worry-worries
[ ]	fly-flying
[ ]	copy-copyist
[x]	gay-gayly

This is another exception: 'y' changes to 'i'. It should be 'gaily'. Learn the exceptions by heart, e.g. 'pay-paid', 'say-said', 'lay-laid', and 'slay-slain'. These are all irregular verbs: be on the lookout for such verbs; they can wreak havoc with your spelling

8.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[x]	shy-shiness
[ ]	dreary-drearily
[ ]	belly-bellies
[ ]	mighty-mightiest

This is an exception. It should be 'shyness'. Learn the exceptions by heart, e.g. dryness, slyness

9.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	duty-dutiful
[ ]	pretty-prettier
[x]	apology-apologys
[ ]	party-parties

'Apologys' breaks Rule 3. It should be 'apologies'

10.

Which one of the following word pairs has an incorrectly spelt second word? You need only concentrate on whether it should be 'i' or 'y'.

[ ]	delay-delayed
[x]	toy-toies
[ ]	carry-carrier
[ ]	boy-boys

'Toies' is NOT covered by Rule 1 because the word 'toy' ends in a 'vowel + y': in such cases, the 'y' remains unchanged. It should be 'toys'