‘Devise’ and ‘Device’
- (a)‘Device’ means to determine, and ‘devise’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task.
- (b)‘Device’ means finding a new way to do something, and ‘devise’ means to determine
- (c)‘Device’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task, and ‘devise’ means finding a new way to do something
- (d)‘Device’ means finding a new way to do something, and ‘devise’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task.
Correct — C, ‘Device’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task, and ‘devise’ means finding a new way to do something. Device is the noun you hold in your hand; devise is the verb you perform in your head. Engineers first devise a method and then build a device to carry it out.
- (a)‘Device’ means to determine, and ‘devise’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task. — It gives the noun a verb meaning and the verb the equipment meaning, so both halves are back to front.
- (b)‘Device’ means finding a new way to do something, and ‘devise’ means to determine — Device is handed the planning sense that belongs to devise, and nothing here names a piece of equipment at all.
- (d)‘Device’ means finding a new way to do something, and ‘devise’ means a piece of equipment meant for accomplishing a specific task. — Devise is again left holding the equipment meaning, which only the noun device can carry.
English marks several noun and verb pairs by spelling alone: the noun ends in -ice and the verb in -ise. Device and devise follow the rule, as do advice and advise, and practice and practise in British usage.
Say the pair aloud. The noun device ends in a hissing s sound, the verb devise ends in a buzzing z sound, exactly the difference you hear between advice and advise. Once you know which half of the pair is the noun, any option that gives ‘a piece of equipment’ to something other than device is finished.
- Advice and advise follow the same pattern, with the -ice form as the noun and the -ise form as the verb.
- Device ends in an s sound and devise in a z sound, which is the quickest oral test.
- American English spells both the noun and the verb of practice with -ice, but the device and devise split holds everywhere.
- Reading only the half of the option that looks familiar.
- Assuming the longer-looking word must be the noun.
Asked as a paired-words item — pick the option that matches each spelling to its own meaning.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank with the correct word. My teacher's __________ helped me choose the right subject.
- (a)advise
- (b)advice
- (c)device
- (d)devise
Answer(b) advice — the -ice form is the noun.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In British usage, which statement about ‘practice’ and ‘practise’ is correct?
- (a)‘Practice’ is the noun and ‘practise’ is the verb
- (b)‘Practice’ is the verb and ‘practise’ is the noun
- (c)Both spellings are nouns
- (d)Both spellings are verbs
Answer(a) ‘Practice’ is the noun and ‘practise’ is the verb, the same -ice and -ise split as device and devise.