Select the INCORRECTLY spelt word in the given sentence. Fundamentels of every subject need to be learnt on priority basis.

Correct — D. The sentence opens "Fundamentels of every subject need to be learnt on priority basis."

The noun is built on the adjective fundamental, which ends -al, and its plural simply adds -s: fundamentals.

The printed word ends -els, so it is the misspelling the stem is asking for. Option (d). The other three words are correct as they stand.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  basis — basis is spelt correctly — a base or foundation, with bases as its plural. Nothing in the sentence calls for a different form.
• (b)
  learnt — learnt is the standard British past participle of learn, and learned is the American variant. Both spellings are correct.
• (c)
  priority — priority is spelt correctly, with one r and the -ity ending. The phrase around it reads oddly, but the word does not.

A spelling item like this one turns on a letter in an unstressed syllable, where the ear cannot help you.

The trap is the suffix. English writes -al on adjectives such as fundamental, essential and material, and the noun plural adds -s to give fundamentals.

The ending -el does exist — model, channel, parcel — but not on this word. Because -al and -el sound identical when unstressed, the error survives being read aloud.

Key facts

• The correct spelling is fundamentals, formed from the adjective fundamental.
• The suffixes -al and -el sound alike when unstressed, which is why -el errors slip through proofreading.
• Learnt and learned are both correct past forms of learn, British and American respectively.
• Basis is singular and its plural is bases.

Common traps

• Reading the sentence for sense and never checking the first word.
• Marking learnt as wrong because learned looks more familiar.
• Hunting for a grammar error when the stem asks only about spelling.

No directly related past PYQ was found.