SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 8 of 99

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the INCORRECTLY spelt word.

(a)Embarrass
(b)Accommodate
(c)Exhilerate
(d)Occurrence

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The altered word is Exhilerate. The spelling is exhilarate, with an a in the third syllable: ex-hil-a-rate.

The a is there because the word comes from Latin hilaris, cheerful, the root that also gives hilarious. Saying hilarious to yourself makes the vowel audible, which is the check to run in the hall.

The three remaining options are printed correctly, which leaves option (c) as the one the question asks you to name.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Embarrass — Embarrass is printed correctly, with a double r and a double s. It is a standing trap word because candidates drop one pair or the other, but nothing is altered here.
(b)
Accommodate — Accommodate is printed correctly, with a double c and a double m. Both doubles are required, which is what makes the word a favourite in this format.
(d)
Occurrence — Occurrence is printed correctly, with a double c, a double r and the ending -ence rather than -ance.

Concept

In a spot-the-misspelling item three options are correct English words and one carries a single altered letter. Your job is to find the altered letter, not to decide which word looks hardest.

Exhilarate hides its vowel in an unstressed syllable, so the ear is no help. The root is: hilaris, cheerful, and hilarious keeps the a in plain sight.

Occurrence doubles its r under the ordinary rule that a verb stressed on its final syllable doubles the consonant before a suffix, as in occur, occurred, occurring. The doubles in embarrass and accommodate follow no rule and simply have to be learnt.

All four options are common workplace and report words, which is why this set recurs. None of them can be settled by pronunciation, so the item rewards a visual memory of the word rather than sounding it out.

Key facts

Exhilarate carries an a in its third syllable, from Latin hilaris, cheerful.
Occurrence takes a double c, a double r and the ending -ence.
Accommodate takes a double c and a double m.
Embarrass takes a double r and a double s.

Study next

Consonant doubling before a suffix when the final syllable is stressed, as in occur and occurrenceWords held together by a shared root, such as exhilarate and hilariousThe -ence against -ance ending, as in occurrence and existence beside attendance and resistance

Common traps

Choosing Accommodate or Embarrass because they look difficult, when the altered letter sits in the quieter word
Writing exhilerate because the syllable is unstressed and genuinely sounds like an e

SSC runs this four-word format with the same trap words in other slots. Embarrass is a correctly spelt option at 9 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.12, where the misspelling is Relevent, and Accommodate is correct at 18 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.10, where the misspelling is Mischievious.

Occurrence goes the opposite way at 13 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.17, where Occurence, missing its second r, is the keyed error.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.