Spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) is a big part of 11+ testing. Below, you will find some sample 11+ SPAG questions. If you want to access more, I offer a comprehensive 11+ SPAG training course which you will find here in the member’s section.

The statements below contain either one spelling error or no error. Decide whether you think the spelling error is in A, B, C, or D. If you feel there is no error

  1. "The eccentric profesor | gave an excellent | lecture about | ancient history."

    A B C D N

  2. "The receptionist hesitated | breifly before | answering the | difficult question."

    A B C D N

  3. "Gleaming and sparkling | in the bright, autumn | sunshine stood the king’s palace."

    A B C D N

  4. "Several countries | reluctantly signed | the important international | aggreement."

    A B C D N

  5. "The talented | youngster exhibited | great potential | as a musician."

    A B C D N

  6. "The clothing buisness | was extremely | successful | this quarter."

    A B C D N

  7. "Our neighbour's | garden looks | particularly | beutiful in summer"
    A B C D N

  8. "The government | announced their | descision | yesterday morning."

    A B C D N

  9. "The children | were thoroughly | enjoying their | oversees holiday adventure."

    A B C D N

  10. "Most college students | find advanced mathematics | challenging but | intresting."

    A B C D N

    1. Error in A ("profesor" should be "professor")

    2. Error in B ("brefly" should be "briefly")

    3. No error (N is correct answer)

    4. Error in D ("aggreement" should be "agreement")

    5. No error (N is correct answer)

    6. Error in A ("buisness" should be "business")

    7. Error in D ("beutiful" should be "beautiful")

    8. Error in C ("descision" should be "decision")

    9. Error in D (“oversees” should be “overseas”)

    10. Error in D ("intresting" should be "interesting")

In this exercise there are some mistakes in the use of capital letters and punctuation. On each numbered line, there is either one mistake or no mistake. Find the group of words with the mistake in it. If there is no mistake, mark ‘N’.

  1. My brother John, | who lives in Wales | visited us | last weekend.

    A B C D

  2. The items we need: are | bread, milk | cheese, and eggs | for the recipe.

    A B C D

  3. When the rain stops, | well go to the park | and either go swimming | or play tennis.

    A B C D

  4. The Dutch museum contains | paintings sculptures | and historical | artefacts.

    A B C D

  5. While Jack’s father was | at work, his mother was taking | the pet dog for | it’s afternoon walk.

    A B C D

  6. “Today is a lovely day”, said Ben. | “I know”, said Ben’s | aunt. “Why don’t you | go and play outside.”

    A B C D

  7. “You should arrive | early because the | theatre gets crowded particularly at weekends.”

    A B C D

  8. The old book | which was valuable | belonged to | my grandfathers collection."

    A B C D

  9. "The chef prepared | several dishes: | pasta, soup, | and salad."

    A B C D

  10. "The teacher said, | "Please sit down | and open your | textbooks now"

    A B C D

  • Description text goes here

MODAL VERBS:

  1. "You [must] [should] [can] [may] [might] be joking - that's impossible!"

TENSES: 2. "By next month, she [has completed] [will have completed] [will complete] [completes] [completed] her thesis."

COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES: 3. "This problem is [more difficult] [difficulter] [more difficulter] [most difficult] [the most difficult] than I expected."

QUESTION TAGS: 4. "You're coming to the party, [aren't you] [don't you] [isn't it] [won't you] [didn't you]?"

ARTICLES: 5. "She plays [a] [an] [the] [-] [some] violin in the orchestra."

PRONOUNS AND RELATIVE PRONOUNS: 6. "The person [who] [which] [what] [that] [whom] lives next door is a doctor."

PREPOSITIONS: 7. "We arrived [in] [at] [on] [to] [by] Paris late last night."

VERB FORMS: 8. "I wish I [know] [knew] [had known] [would know] [have known] the answer yesterday."

DETERMINERS: 9. "[Few] [Little] [Many] [Much] [Several] sugar is left in the bowl."

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT: 10. "Neither of the students [have] [has] [having] [had] [were] completed the assignment."

PASSIVE VOICE: 11. "The novel [wrote] [was written] [had written] [has written] [had been written] by a famous author."

GERUNDS VS INFINITIVES: 12. "She suggested [going] [to go] [go] [goes] [went] to the cinema."

CONDITIONAL FORMS: 13. "If I [would be] [were] [am] [was] [had been] rich, I would buy a yacht."

ADVERB PLACEMENT: 14. "The children [quickly ate] [ate quickly] [did quickly eat] [ate quick] [quick ate] their lunch."

REPORTED SPEECH: 15. "He said he [will come] [would come] [comes] [came] [is coming] tomorrow."

The correct answers are:

  1. must

  2. will have completed

  3. more difficult

  4. aren't you

  5. the

  6. who

  7. in

  8. had known

  9. Little

  10. has

  11. was written

  12. going

  13. were

  14. ate quickly

  15. would come