Select the INCORRECTLY spelt word.

Correct — D. The paper prints Atributes. The spelling is attributes, with a double t.

Attribute comes from Latin ad- (to) plus tribuere (to assign), and ad- assimilates to the consonant that follows it: ad + tribuere gives attribute, just as ad + trahere gives attract.

Reinforcement, motivational and opportunity are all printed correctly, so option (d) is the incorrectly spelt word.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Reinforcement — Reinforcement is correct as printed — the noun of reinforce, with -ment added and no letter changed or doubled.
• (b)
  Motivational — Motivational is correct — motivation plus the adjective ending -al, with nothing dropped and nothing doubled.
• (c)
  Opportunity — Opportunity is correct, and its double p is genuine: it comes from Latin ob plus portus. Candidates hunting a doubling error often stop here by mistake.

A bare spelling list gives four words and no sentence, so elimination is the method: prove three right rather than feel one wrong.

Doubling is the fault this list turns on. English doubles a consonant when a Latin prefix assimilates to the stem — ad + tribuere gives attribute, ad + trahere gives attract, ob + portus gives opportunity, sub + ferre gives suffer.

Read each option as prefix plus stem. Atributes shows a prefix that has not assimilated, and that is the whole of the error.

Key facts

• The correct spelling is attributes, with a double t.
• Attribute comes from Latin ad plus tribuere, meaning to assign.
• Opportunity keeps the double p of Latin ob plus portus.

Common traps

• Assuming the longest word in the list must be the misspelt one
• Reading the options for meaning and never checking Atributes letter by letter
• Suspecting opportunity of a doubling error that is in fact correct

No directly related past PYQ was found.