Which spelling is correct for a word meaning 'a formal agreement between nations'?

Correct — A. The word for a formal agreement between nations is treaty, spelt t-r-e-a-t-y.

It keeps the ea of treat. Both come from Latin tractare, 'to handle, deal with', and to treat with the enemy means to negotiate with it.

The long vowel is ea and the ending is plain -ty → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  Trety — Trety drops the a from the ea. The long 'ee' sound in the first syllable is spelt ea here, as in treat.
• (c)
  Treety — Treety writes the long vowel as ee. The sound matches but the letters do not: the word shares its spelling with treat, not tree.
• (d)
  Tretye — Tretye loses the a and adds an e after the y. The word ends in plain -ty, like safety and plenty.

A meaning-plus-spelling item states the definition so there is no doubt which word is meant. The test is spelling alone.

Treaty is a formal written agreement between states. Its long vowel is spelt ea, as in treat, which shares its Latin root.

The distractors drop the a (Trety), swap ea for ee (Treety), or drop the a and add a stray e (Tretye). Spell the root first, then the ending.

Key facts

• Treaty: a formal agreement between states, spelt t-r-e-a-t-y.
• Treaty and treat share the Latin root tractare, 'to handle, deal with'.
• Plural: treaties, because consonant + y becomes -ies.

Common traps

• Writing the long vowel as ee because the first syllable sounds like tree.

No directly related past PYQ was found.