Olympiad English Practice Questions

24 free English MCQs written in the Olympiad exam pattern, each with a step-by-step solution. Tap an option for instant feedback — no sign-up, no ads.

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✍️ These are original practice questions written in the Olympiad pattern for school Olympiad exams — not questions from any official past paper.

Practice questions with solutions

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Spelling

Q1. Which of the following is the correct spelling?

  1. Neccessary
  2. Necessary
  3. Necessery
  4. Necassary
Show answer

B. Necessary — The correct spelling is 'necessary' — one c, double s. A common memory trick: a shirt has one collar (c) and two sleeves (ss).

Vocabulary

Q2. Which word is a synonym of 'happy'?

  1. Angry
  2. Sleepy
  3. Joyful
  4. Hungry
Show answer

C. Joyful — 'Joyful' means full of joy — the same meaning as 'happy'. The other options describe different feelings or states.

Vocabulary

Q3. Which word is the antonym (opposite) of 'ancient'?

  1. Old
  2. Modern
  3. Antique
  4. Historic
Show answer

B. Modern — 'Ancient' means very old, so its opposite is 'modern' (belonging to the present time). 'Old', 'antique' and 'historic' are close in meaning to 'ancient', not opposite.

Grammar

Q4. What is the plural of 'child'?

  1. Childs
  2. Childes
  3. Children
  4. Childrens
Show answer

C. Children — 'Child' has an irregular plural: 'children'. Adding -s or -es (childs, childes) is incorrect, and 'childrens' double-pluralises it.

Grammar

Q5. Which of these words is a verb?

  1. Table
  2. Sing
  3. Green
  4. Beauty
Show answer

B. Sing — 'Sing' is an action word — a verb. 'Table' is a noun, 'green' is an adjective, and 'beauty' is a noun.

Grammar

Q6. What is the past tense of 'go'?

  1. Goed
  2. Gone
  3. Went
  4. Going
Show answer

C. Went — 'Go' is an irregular verb: its simple past is 'went' (I went home). 'Gone' is the past participle (I have gone), and 'going' is the present participle.

Grammar

Q7. Choose the correct word: "She ___ to school every day."

  1. go
  2. goes
  3. gone
  4. going
Show answer

B. goes — With a third-person singular subject ('she') in the simple present, the verb takes -es: 'She goes to school every day.'

Vocabulary

Q8. Which word is the opposite of 'victory'?

  1. Defeat
  2. Success
  3. Triumph
  4. Win
Show answer

A. Defeat — 'Victory' means winning, so its opposite is 'defeat'. 'Success', 'triumph' and 'win' are all synonyms of victory.

Subject Verb Agreement

Q9. Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Neither of the boys have finished their homework.
  2. Neither of the boys has finished his homework.
  3. Neither of the boys have finished his homework.
  4. Neither of the boys has finished their homeworks.
Show answer

B. Neither of the boys has finished his homework. — 'Neither' is singular, so it takes the singular verb 'has' and the singular pronoun 'his'; 'homework' is uncountable and has no plural.

Parts Of Speech

Q10. Which word is an ADVERB in the sentence: 'The runner quickly crossed the finish line.'?

  1. runner
  2. quickly
  3. crossed
  4. line
Show answer

B. quickly — 'Quickly' describes how the action 'crossed' was done, so it is an adverb modifying the verb.

Question Tags

Q11. Pick the correct question tag: 'You have finished your project, ____?'

  1. haven't you
  2. have you
  3. didn't you
  4. don't you
Show answer

A. haven't you — A positive statement with 'have finished' takes a negative tag using the same auxiliary, giving 'haven't you'.

Idioms

Q12. What does the idiom 'to let the cat out of the bag' mean?

  1. To buy a pet
  2. To reveal a secret
  3. To make a mess
  4. To run away quickly
Show answer

B. To reveal a secret — 'To let the cat out of the bag' means to accidentally reveal a secret.

Spelling

Q13. Choose the word that is spelt correctly.

  1. mischevous
  2. mischievous
  3. mischievious
  4. mischevious
Show answer

B. mischievous — The correct spelling is 'mischievous' — note there is no extra 'i' before the final 'ous'.

Punctuation

Q14. Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?

  1. The childrens' toys are new.
  2. The children's toys are new.
  3. The childrens toys' are new.
  4. The childrens's toys are new.
Show answer

B. The children's toys are new. — 'Children' is already plural, so the possessive is formed by adding 's, giving 'children's'.

Prepositions

Q15. Fill in the blank with the correct preposition: 'She is very good ____ mathematics.'

  1. in
  2. at
  3. on
  4. with
Show answer

B. at — The fixed expression is 'good at' a subject or skill, so 'at' is correct.

Collective Nouns

Q16. Which word is the correct COLLECTIVE NOUN for a group of wolves?

  1. pack
  2. flock
  3. swarm
  4. herd
Show answer

A. pack — A group of wolves is called a 'pack'; 'flock' is for birds/sheep, 'swarm' for insects, and 'herd' for cattle.

Reported Speech

Q17. Change to reported speech: She said, 'I am reading a book.'

  1. She said that she is reading a book.
  2. She said that she was reading a book.
  3. She said that I was reading a book.
  4. She said that she has read a book.
Show answer

B. She said that she was reading a book. — In reported speech the present continuous 'am reading' shifts to past continuous 'was reading', and 'I' becomes 'she'.

Homophones

Q18. Choose the pair of words that are HOMOPHONES (sound the same).

  1. big — large
  2. flower — flour
  3. hot — cold
  4. run — running
Show answer

B. flower — flour — 'Flower' and 'flour' are pronounced the same but have different meanings and spellings, making them homophones.

Nouns

Q19. Identify the ABSTRACT NOUN in the sentence: 'Her honesty impressed the teacher.'

  1. Her
  2. honesty
  3. impressed
  4. teacher
Show answer

B. honesty — 'Honesty' names a quality that cannot be touched or seen, so it is an abstract noun.

Active Passive Voice

Q20. Which sentence is in the PASSIVE voice?

  1. The gardener waters the plants.
  2. The plants are watered by the gardener.
  3. The gardener is watering the plants.
  4. The gardener will water the plants.
Show answer

B. The plants are watered by the gardener. — In 'The plants are watered by the gardener', the object receives the action and the doer follows 'by', which marks the passive voice.

Degrees Of Comparison

Q21. Choose the correct comparative form: 'This box is ____ than that one.'

  1. heavier
  2. more heavy
  3. heaviest
  4. most heavy
Show answer

A. heavier — For a two-syllable adjective ending in 'y', the comparative is formed by changing 'y' to 'i' and adding 'er', giving 'heavier'.

Prefixes Suffixes

Q22. What is the meaning of the prefix 're-' in the word 'rewrite'?

  1. not
  2. before
  3. again
  4. wrongly
Show answer

C. again — The prefix 're-' means 'again', so 'rewrite' means to write again.

Articles

Q23. Choose the correct article: 'He is ____ honest man.'

  1. a
  2. an
  3. the
  4. no article
Show answer

B. an — 'Honest' begins with a silent 'h', so it starts with a vowel sound and takes the article 'an'.

Conditionals

Q24. Which word correctly completes the sentence: 'If it rains tomorrow, we ____ stay at home.'?

  1. will
  2. would
  3. have
  4. are
Show answer

A. will — This is a first conditional about a likely future event, so the main clause uses 'will' + base verb.

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