Identify the word which is not spelt correctly. The committee concluded that…
2026
Identify the word which is not spelt correctly.
The committee concluded that the report contained inconsistant data that needed verification.
Answer: B. inconsistant — ConceptEnglish writes the unstressed final syllable of many adjectives as either -ant or -ent, and the two endings sound identical, so the correct form has to…
- A.
committee
- B.
inconsistant
- C.
verification
- D.
concluded
Attempted by 9 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
English writes the unstressed final syllable of many adjectives as either -ant or -ent, and the two endings sound identical, so the correct form has to be recovered from the word's derivation rather than from its pronunciation. An adjective built on a Latin present participle in -ens / -entis takes -ent (present, evident, different, persistent), while one built on a stem in -ans / -antis takes -ant (important, distant, relevant). The same derivation-first logic governs the other regular spelling patterns: the final consonant of a base doubles before a vowel-initial suffix (begin → beginner), and a verb ending in -ify forms its noun in -ification rather than by simply adding -ation (classify → classification, notify → notification).
Applying it here
The underlined form printed as inconsistant is an adjective built on consist, which comes from Latin consistere with the present participle consistentis. That stem takes -ent, so the adjective is consistent and its negative is inconsistent. Writing the final syllable as -ant contradicts the derivation, so the printed form departs from the standard spelling.
Cross-check the other underlined words
Word as printed | Standard spelling | How the spelling is formed |
|---|---|---|
committee | committee | commit + -ee; the doubled m of commit is kept and its final t doubles before the vowel-initial suffix, giving committee. |
concluded | concluded | conclude + -ed; the silent e of conclude is dropped before the vowel-initial suffix. |
verification | verification | verify + -ation, realised as the regular -ify → -ification pattern (as in classify → classification), which gives verification. |
inconsistant | inconsistent | in- + consist + -ent, the suffix taken by the Latin stem consistentis. |
So the word that is not spelt correctly is the one printed inconsistant; its standard spelling is inconsistent.