California POST Spelling Accuracy Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The officer was asked to review the video footage from the ongoing _________ operation.
- surveilance
- survaillance
- surveillance (Correct answer)
- surveillence
Correct answer: surveillance
The correct spelling is 'surveillance'. This word is French in origin and contains the 'ei' vowel combination and double 'l'. Common errors involve swapping vowels or using only a single 'l'.
Question 2: To coordinate the multi-agency response, Sergeant Davis acted as the _________ between the local police and the federal investigators.
- liason
- liaison (Correct answer)
- leason
- liaeson
Correct answer: liaison
The correct spelling is 'liaison'. It is a commonly misspelled word, often due to the unusual 'iai' vowel sequence. Remembering the 'i' before the 'a' and another 'i' after is key.
Question 3: Which of the following sentences uses the correctly spelled word to describe a frequent event?
- This was the third such occurrance this month.
- This was the third such occurence this month.
- This was the third such ocurrence this month.
- This was the third such occurrence this month. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: This was the third such occurrence this month.
The correct spelling is 'occurrence'. A common mistake is to forget one of the double consonants. The word has a double 'c' and a double 'r'.
Question 4: The witness provided a detailed description of the alleged _________ to the responding officer.
- perpetrator (Correct answer)
- perpatrator
- perpetrater
- perpitrator
Correct answer: perpetrator
The correct spelling is 'perpetrator'. The vowels in this word can be tricky. It is spelled with an 'e' after the 'p', and ends with '-ator', not '-ater'.
Question 5: An officer must be _________ in documenting all evidence and witness statements accurately in the report.
- conscienscious
- conscientous
- consciencious
- conscientious (Correct answer)
Correct answer: conscientious
The correct spelling is 'conscientious'. This word is notoriously difficult. It contains the 'sc' combination and the '-tious' suffix. Breaking it down (con-sci-en-tious) can help remember the order of the letters.
Question 6: While writing the incident report, the officer was careful to omit any _________ details or personal opinions.
- unecessary
- unneccessary
- unnecessary (Correct answer)
- unnecessery
Correct answer: unnecessary
The correct spelling is 'unnecessary'. This word has one 'c' and a double 's'. People often incorrectly double the 'c' or use a single 's'.
California POST Spelling Accuracy Questions and Answers
The officer was asked to review the video footage from the ongoing _________ operation.