GemoimEnglish Language Trivia Questions
52 english language questions, from โ easy to โ โ โ โ โ hard. Tap Show answer for the answer and source.
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- What is the opposite of 'empty'? โ
- dark
- short
- open
- full
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full โ 'Empty' and 'full' are a pair of opposites. Source: Wiktionary 'empty'
- What is the past tense of 'eat'? โ
- eated
- eating
- eats
- ate
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ate โ 'Eat' is irregular: its past tense is 'ate'. Source: Wikipedia 'English irregular verbs'
- Which of these letters is a vowel? โ
- B
- T
- K
- E
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E โ The five main vowel letters are A, E, I, O and U. Source: Wikipedia 'English alphabet'
- What do we call a young dog? โ
- A calf
- A foal
- A kitten
- A puppy
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A puppy โ A puppy is a young dog. Source: Wiktionary 'puppy'
- What is the past tense of 'swim'? โ
- swimmed
- swims
- swimming
- swam
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swam โ 'Swim' is irregular: its past tense is 'swam'. Source: Wikipedia 'English irregular verbs'
- The past tense of 'go' is 'went'. โ
- True
- False
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True โ 'Went' is the past tense of 'go'. Source: Wikipedia 'English irregular verbs'
- A direct question in English ends with a question mark (?). โ
- True
- False
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True โ In English, a question mark goes at the end of a question. Source: Wikipedia 'Question mark'
- Which day of the week is named after the Moon? โ
โ
- Sunday
- Friday
- Tuesday
- Monday
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Monday โ Monday comes from "Moon day". Source: Wikipedia 'Week'
- What is the plural of 'child'? โ
โ
- childs
- childes
- childen
- children
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children โ 'Child' has the irregular plural 'children'. Source: Wikipedia 'English plurals'
- What is the plural of 'tooth'? โ
โ
- tooths
- toothes
- teeths
- teeth
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teeth โ 'Tooth' changes its vowel in the plural: 'teeth'. Source: Wikipedia 'English plurals'
- What is the past tense of 'catch'? โ
โ
- catched
- catcht
- cought
- caught
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caught โ 'Catch' is irregular: catch โ caught โ caught. Source: Wikipedia 'List of English irregular verbs'
- What is the past tense of 'fly'? โ
โ
- flied
- flewed
- flyed
- flew
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flew โ 'Fly' is irregular: fly โ flew โ flown. Source: Wikipedia 'List of English irregular verbs'
- Which letter is used most often in English text? โ
โ
- I
- O
- A
- E
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E โ E is the most frequent letter in English; Z is the rarest. Source: Wikipedia 'English alphabet'
- What are words like 'two' and 'too' that sound the same called? โ
โ
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Acronyms
- Homophones
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Homophones โ Homophones are pronounced the same but differ in meaning or spelling. Source: Wikipedia 'Homophone'
- Words like NASA, laser and scuba are examples of what? โ
โ
- Palindromes
- Prefixes
- Idioms
- Acronyms
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Acronyms โ An acronym is formed from the first letters of a phrase. Source: Wikipedia 'Acronym'
- 'Saturday' is named after the Sun. โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ Saturday is named after Saturn; Sunday is the Sun's day. Source: Wikipedia 'Week'
- The plural of 'mouse' is 'mice'. โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ 'Mouse' has an irregular plural: 'mice'. Source: Wikipedia 'English plurals'
- The past tense of 'teach' is 'teached'. โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ 'Teach' is irregular: teach โ taught โ taught. Source: Wikipedia 'List of English irregular verbs'
- 'Racecar' is a palindrome. โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ 'Racecar' reads the same backwards as forwards. Source: Wikipedia 'Palindrome'
- The English alphabet has 24 letters. โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ The English alphabet has 26 letters. Source: Wikipedia 'English alphabet'
- 'Oink' and 'meow' are examples of onomatopoeia. โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ Onomatopoeia words imitate the sounds they describe. Source: Wikipedia 'Onomatopoeia'
- What is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet? โ
โ
โ
- A palindrome
- An anagram
- An acrostic
- A pangram
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A pangram โ 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' is a famous pangram. Source: Wikipedia 'Pangram'
- What is the plural of "criterion"? โ
โ
โ
- Criterias
- Criteriae
- Criterii
- Criteria
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Criteria โ Criterion comes from Greek, and its usual plural is criteria. Source: Wiktionary 'criterion'
- What is a word with the opposite meaning of another word called? โ
โ
โ
- Homonym
- Pronoun
- Synonym
- Antonym
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Antonym โ Hot and cold are antonyms; words with the same meaning are synonyms. Source: Wikipedia 'Opposite (semantics)'
- Which spelling is correct? โ
โ
โ
- Neccessary
- Neccesary
- Necesary
- Necessary
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Necessary โ Necessary has one c and a double s. Source: Wiktionary 'necessary'
- What does "break the ice" mean? โ
โ
โ
- Cause a big argument
- Give up on a plan
- Reveal a secret
- Ease the first awkwardness
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Ease the first awkwardness โ To break the ice is to make people feel relaxed when they first meet. Source: Wiktionary 'break the ice'
- Fill in the blank: "I have ___ in the sea." โ
โ
โ
- swam
- swimming
- swimmed
- swum
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swum โ The past participle of swim is swum; the simple past is swam. Source: Wiktionary 'swim'
- What is a word made from the first letters of a phrase, like NASA, called? โ
โ
โ
- Anagram
- Palindrome
- Homophone
- Acronym
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Acronym โ NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Source: Wikipedia 'Acronym'
- Which word is a palindrome (reads the same backwards)? โ
โ
โ
- Lever
- Local
- Label
- Level
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Level โ Level, radar and kayak read the same in both directions. Source: Wikipedia 'Palindrome'
- From which language does the word "kindergarten" come? โ
โ
โ
- French
- Dutch
- Latin
- German
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German โ Kindergarten is German for "children's garden". Source: Wikipedia 'Kindergarten'
- Arachnophobia is the fear of what? โ
โ
โ
- Heights
- Crowds
- Snakes
- Spiders
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Spiders โ Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids. Source: Wikipedia 'Arachnophobia'
- "To", "too" and "two" are homophones. โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ Homophones sound the same but differ in meaning or spelling. Source: Wikipedia 'Homophone'
- Adverbs are the words that describe nouns. โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. Source: Wikipedia 'Adverb'
- The word "alphabet" comes from the first two Greek letters, alpha and beta. โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ Alphabet comes from Greek alpha (ฮฑ) + beta (ฮฒ). Source: Wikipedia 'Alphabet'
- The plural of "goose" is "gooses". โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ The plural of goose is geese. Source: Wiktionary 'goose'
- The word "robot" comes from the Czech language. โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ "Robot" was first used in the Czech play R.U.R. by Karel ฤapek. Source: Wikipedia 'Robot'
- What is a word like NASA, formed from initials and said as a word? โ
โ
โ
โ
- Homonym
- Synonym
- Anagram
- Acronym
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Acronym โ An acronym is made of initial letters and pronounced as a word, like NASA or NATO. Source: Wikipedia 'Acronym'
- The word "kindergarten" comes from which language? โ
โ
โ
โ
- French
- Danish
- Dutch
- German
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German โ It is German for "children's garden", coined by Friedrich Frรถbel in 1840. Source: Wikipedia 'Kindergarten'
- A comparison using "like" or "as" is called what? โ
โ
โ
โ
- Idiom
- Hyperbole
- Metaphor
- Simile
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Simile โ "Brave as a lion" is a simile; "he is a lion" would be a metaphor. Source: Wikipedia 'Simile'
- Complete: "The dog has ___ on the rug all day." (lie = rest) โ
โ
โ
โ
- lied
- layed
- lay
- lain
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lain โ The verb lie (to rest) goes lie โ lay โ lain. Source: Wiktionary 'lie'
- The English word "tsunami" was borrowed from which language? โ
โ
โ
โ
- Hawaiian
- Malay
- Chinese
- Japanese
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Japanese โ Tsunami is Japanese for "harbour wave". Source: Wikipedia 'Tsunami'
- What is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet called? โ
โ
โ
โ
- Palindrome
- Anagram
- Lipogram
- Pangram
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Pangram โ "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a famous pangram. Source: Wikipedia 'Pangram'
- What is the term for a word that imitates a sound, like "oink" or "beep"? โ
โ
โ
โ
- Alliteration
- Euphemism
- Hyperbole
- Onomatopoeia
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Onomatopoeia โ Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it refers to. Source: Wikipedia 'Onomatopoeia'
- The word "alphabet" comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ "Alphabet" comes from Greek alpha and beta. Source: Wikipedia 'Alphabet'
- The word "robot" comes from German. โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ "Robot" comes from the Czech word robota, "forced labour", used in Karel ฤapek's play R.U.R. Source: Wikipedia 'Robot'
- "Bittersweet" is an example of an oxymoron. โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ An oxymoron joins opposite ideas, like bitter and sweet. Source: Wikipedia 'Oxymoron'
- In "Q.E.D." at the end of a proof, the Q stands for "question". โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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False โ Q.E.D. stands for the Latin quod erat demonstrandum, "which was to be shown". Source: Wikipedia 'Q.E.D.'
- The abbreviation "lb" for pound comes from the Latin word libra. โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ The pound descends from the Roman libra, hence the symbol lb. Source: Wikipedia 'Pound (mass)'
- What does "sesquipedalian" describe? โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
- Walking very slowly
- Being very old
- Being easily angered
- Using very long words
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Using very long words โ From Latin for "a foot and a half long", it describes long words or those who use them. Source: Wiktionary 'sesquipedalian'
- What do the letters "e.g." stand for? โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
- Id est
- Ergo
- Et cetera
- Exempli gratia
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Exempli gratia โ "e.g." is Latin exempli gratia, "for example"; "i.e." is id est, "that is". Source: Wiktionary 'e.g.'
- The word "salary" comes from a Latin word related to what? โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
- Silver
- Grain
- Bread
- Salt
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Salt โ "Salary" is from Latin salarium, "pertaining to salt" (sal). Source: Wikipedia 'Salary'
- The word "quarantine" comes from a Venetian word meaning "forty days". โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
- True
- False
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True โ Venice used "quarantena" for the 40-day isolation of ships during plague times. Source: Wikipedia 'Quarantine'