National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST / Stanard & Associates POST) Spelling and Vocabulary Syllabus

Spelling and Vocabulary syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Spelling and Vocabulary in National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST / Stanard & Associates POST), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Spelling Fundamentals

   3 topics

   • Common Spelling Rules
     • i before e and exceptions
     • Doubling consonants when adding suffixes
   • Frequently Misspelled Words
     • High-frequency exam words
     • Law enforcement terminology
   • Plurals and Suffixes
     • Regular and irregular plurals
     • Adding -ed, -ing, -ly endings
2. 2

   Easily Confused Words

   3 topics

   • Homophones
     • There, their, they're
     • To, too, two and your, you're
   • Commonly Misused Pairs
     • Affect versus effect
     • Accept versus except; than versus then
   • Selecting the Correct Spelling
     • Choosing the right form among options
3. 3

   Vocabulary and Word Meaning

   3 topics

   • Synonyms and Antonyms
     • Matching words of similar meaning
     • Identifying opposites
   • Word Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes
     • Decoding unfamiliar words from parts
   • Context-Based Word Choice
     • Selecting the precise word for a sentence

Spelling and Vocabulary flashcards for National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST / Stanard & Associates POST)

20 of 50 cards from the Spelling and Vocabulary deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the basic "i before e" spelling rule, and what is its key exception?

   Write "i" before "e" except after "c" (believe, achieve), or when the sound is long "a" (neighbor, weigh). After "c" the order flips: receive, ceiling, deceive.

2. When adding a suffix beginning with a vowel to a word ending in silent "e", what is the rule?

   Drop the silent "e" before a vowel-starting suffix: make + ing = making; hope + ed = hoped. Keep the "e" before a consonant-starting suffix: hope + ful = hopeful.

3. What is the "doubling" rule for one-syllable words ending in a single consonant?

   For a one-syllable word ending in one vowel + one consonant, double the final consonant before a vowel suffix: stop + ing = stopping; big + er = bigger.

4. When do you double the final consonant of a multi-syllable word before adding a suffix?

   Double it only when the word ends in vowel + consonant AND the stress is on the last syllable: begin + ing = beginning; refer + ed = referred. If stress is not on the last syllable, do not double: open + ing = opening.

5. What is the rule for changing "y" to "i" when adding a suffix?

   If a word ends in consonant + y, change y to i before a suffix (happy + ness = happiness; carry + ed = carried), except before "-ing" (carrying). If it ends in vowel + y, keep the y (play + ed = played).

6. How are most plurals formed in English, and what is the exception for words ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z?

   Most plurals add "-s" (cat/cats). Words ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z add "-es" so the plural is pronounceable: bus/buses, box/boxes, dish/dishes, church/churches.

7. How do you form the plural of a noun ending in consonant + y versus vowel + y?

   Consonant + y: change y to i and add -es (city/cities, baby/babies). Vowel + y: just add -s (key/keys, boy/boys).

8. What are the rules for forming plurals of nouns ending in "-o"?

   Some add -es (potato/potatoes, hero/heroes, tomato/tomatoes); others, often musical or shortened words, add only -s (piano/pianos, photo/photos, solo/solos).

9. How do you form the plural of nouns ending in "-f" or "-fe"?

   Many change f/fe to v and add -es: leaf/leaves, knife/knives, wife/wives. Some just add -s: roof/roofs, chief/chiefs, belief/beliefs.

10. Give five common irregular plurals that do not follow the -s/-es pattern.

    child/children, man/men, woman/women, foot/feet, tooth/teeth, mouse/mice, person/people, goose/geese (any five).

11. Spell the commonly misspelled word meaning "to take place" (often misspelled "occured").

    Occurred (double c, double r). Related: occurrence, occurring.

12. Spell the word for "a piece of equipment for a particular purpose," often confused as "-ant" vs "-ent."

    Equipment is straightforward; the tricky pair is "separate" (often misspelled "seperate") - remember "there's A RAT in sepARATe."

13. What is the correct spelling of the word meaning "existing or happening at the same time as something embarrassing"? (test favorite)

    Embarrass - double r and double s. Many misspell it with single letters.

14. How is "definitely" correctly spelled, and what is the common error?

    Definitely - it contains the word "finite." Common errors are "definitly" and "definately."

15. Spell the word meaning "a calendar timekeeping system" that is frequently misspelled as "calender."

    Calendar - ends in "-ar," not "-er."

16. What is the correct spelling of the word for "a formal written agreement / promise to do something," often misspelled "committment" or "comittment"?

    Commitment - double m in the middle (commit) but only one t and one m in the suffix: com-mit-ment.

17. Spell the word meaning "happening every two weeks / set apart," frequently confused: "recieve" vs the correct form.

    Receive - "i before e except after c," so c-e-i-v-e.

18. What is the correct spelling: "acommodate," "accomodate," or "accommodate"?

    Accommodate - it takes two c's and two m's.

19. Spell the word for "a person who lives near you," a classic exception to "i before e."

    Neighbor - the long "a" sound triggers "ei" (neighbor, weigh, eight).

20. What is the correct spelling of the adverb meaning "in fact / really," often wrongly written as one word incorrectly?

    Actually is correct; note that "a lot" is always two words (never "alot").

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