3.5 Word Pairs, Misspelled Words, Error Types & Synonyms

3.5 Word Pairs, Misspelled Words, Error Types & Synonyms

FPSI's sample Writing Ability section shows four item formats. Each one rewards a specific habit, and each can be answered quickly once you know the pattern:

The real section has 15 items, so expect several of each.

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1. Word-Pair Items

A word-pair item gives a sentence with two blanks and four pairs of words. Usually each blank tests something different: one tests spelling (predictable versus predictible) and the other tests a homophone or word meaning (their versus there).

Method: solve one blank at a time. Eliminate every pair with a wrong first word, then every pair with a wrong second word. Usually one pair is left.

Example: "The suspects returned to ___ car, which was parked over ___."

• First blank: possession, so their (not there or they're).
• Second blank: a place, so there.

Everyday Homophones and Look-Alikes

Word meaning matters too. A sentence such as "Employees may not ___ or ___ gifts from people who do business with the city" calls for two words that describe improper conduct by the employee, such as accept and request. A pair like give and borrow is spelled correctly but does not fit the meaning, so read the whole sentence before choosing.

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2. Misspelled-Word Items

These items underline or list four words from a sentence, and you choose the one spelled incorrectly. FPSI's samples use ordinary words (effectively, enforcement, telephone), not police jargon. A few rules cover most traps:

• -able vs. -ible: if the root is a complete word, the ending is usually -able (predict → predictable, accept → acceptable). Many -ible words have roots that are not complete words (visible, terrible, possible).
• i before e except after c for the "ee" sound: believe, relief, but receive, ceiling. Common exceptions include seize, weird, and neither.
• Adding -ly: keep the whole base word: effective + ly = effectively, immediate + ly = immediately.
• Adding -ment: keep the final e of the base: enforce + ment = enforcement, manage + ment = management. (Judgment and argument are standard American exceptions.)
• Doubling a final consonant: double it before -ed or -ing when the last syllable is stressed and ends in one vowel plus one consonant: occur → occurred, admit → admitted, but visit → visited.

High-Frequency Words to Check

accommodate, apparent, argument, believe, business, calendar, cemetery, conscious, definitely, embarrass, environment, February, government, guarantee, harass, immediately, independent, judgment, license, maintenance, necessary, noticeable, occasion, occurred, receive, recommend, separate, significant, surprise, telephone, vacuum

Say each word slowly by syllable while you study (sig-nif-i-cant, tel-e-phone), and write it from memory. Misspellings on the test are usually one letter off, so read letter by letter rather than by shape.

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3. Error-Type Items

FPSI's sample asks you to identify the type of error in a sentence: Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, or There is no error. Classify by asking three questions in order:

1. Is any word spelled wrong? If yes, the error is spelling.
2. Is a mark missing or misused? Apostrophes, commas, quotation marks, and end marks are punctuation. "Its important to arrive early" needs the apostrophe in It's, so it is a punctuation error.
3. Is a word form or construction wrong? Verb forms, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun case are grammar. "The officer realized he should've went right" needs the past participle gone (should have gone), so it is a grammar error.

Choose "There is no error" only after the sentence passes all three checks.

Irregular Verb Forms

The past participle follows have, has, had, and the contractions should've, could've, and would've:

"The suspect had ran from the scene" and "I seen the car" are grammar errors; the correct forms are had run and I saw.

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4. Synonym Items

A synonym item underlines a word in a sentence and asks which option means the same thing. FPSI's samples pair extensive with vast and monotonous with repetitive.

Method:

1. Read the sentence and predict a meaning before looking at the options.
2. Substitute each option into the sentence. The synonym keeps the meaning; a wrong option changes it.
3. Watch for antonyms and related-but-different words. For extensive, the distractors limited (an opposite) and complicated (a different idea) are both common traps.

Vocabulary Often Found in Police Writing

Build the list further from your own reading: whenever you meet an unfamiliar word in a news article or policy, write it down with a one-word synonym and review the list weekly.