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45 language and words trivia questions and answers

Grammar and punctuation, word origins, sounds, alphabets, figures of speech and wordplay.

45 questions · Language and words trivia questions and answers · answers included

Updated

Language and words trivia questions and answers

Choose a score button to add a point. Scores last for this page visit.

Space shows the answer, then the next card. Arrow keys move. With scores on, keys 1 to 6 add a team point. F fills the screen. Escape closes play.

Questions 1–20

  1. 1

    What punctuation mark ends a direct question?

    easy

    Answer

    Question mark

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_mark?oldid=1365255154

  2. 2

    What is the opposite of a synonym?

    easy

    Answer

    An antonym

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposite?oldid=1355664222#Types_of_antonyms

  3. 3

    Which language is primarily spoken in Brazil?

    easy

    Answer

    Portuguese

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Portuguese?oldid=1365681856

  4. 4

    What do we call a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea?

    easy

    Answer

    A noun

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun?oldid=1358395188

  5. 5

    How many letters are in the modern English alphabet?

    easy

    Answer

    26 letters

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet?oldid=1364945547

  6. 6

    What humorous plural is sometimes used for moose?

    easy

    Answer

    Meese

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_plurals?oldid=1359743235#Apophonic_plurals

  7. 7

    Which Hawaiian word was borrowed into English?

    easy

    Answer

    Aloha

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha?oldid=1361860286#Etymology

  8. 8

    What does the prefix un- usually mean?

    easy

    Answer

    Not, opposite of

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_prefix?oldid=1361171529#Selectional_restrictions

  9. 9

    What process creates a verb from a noun, adjective, or other word?

    hard

    Answer

    Verbification

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_(word_formation)?oldid=1350823278#Verbification

  10. 10

    What is a group of lines in a poem called?

    medium

    Answer

    A stanza

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanza?oldid=1307347128

  11. 11

    What is the official language of Spain?

    easy

    Answer

    Spanish

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language?oldid=1365991957#Europe

  12. 12

    What name is given to words such as buzz and hiss that imitate sounds?

    medium

    Answer

    Onomatopoeia

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia?oldid=1358752178

  13. 13

    What is the past tense of teach?

    easy

    Answer

    Taught

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_irregular_verbs?oldid=1363180906#Weak_verbs

  14. 14

    Which punctuation mark can indicate the elision of one or more sounds?

    easy

    Answer

    The apostrophe

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe?oldid=1365606732#As_a_mark_of_elision

  15. 15

    How many languages are involved in bilingualism?

    easy

    Answer

    Two

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism?oldid=1364641504

  16. 16

    What kind of dictionary sorts words alphabetically from their last letter toward their first?

    hard

    Answer

    A rhyming dictionary

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabetical_order?oldid=1361673699#Similar_orderings

  17. 17

    What do you call a word or phrase that reads the same backwards as forwards, like racecar?

    medium

    Answer

    A palindrome

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome?oldid=1357755454

  18. 18

    Which Romance language belongs to the Indo-European family?

    hard

    Answer

    French

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language?oldid=1365270290#History

  19. 19

    What part of speech describes a noun?

    easy

    Answer

    An adjective

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective?oldid=1355182032

  20. 20

    Why are quotation marks placed around exact spoken words?

    easy

    Answer

    Direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark?oldid=1362801953

Questions 21–40

  1. 21

    What is the word for a word that sounds like another but differs in meaning or spelling, like pair and pear?

    medium

    Answer

    A homophone

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone?oldid=1353981755

  2. 22

    How many syllables does a trisyllable have?

    easy

    Answer

    Three

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable?oldid=1364042296

  3. 23

    When was Esperanto created?

    hard

    Answer

    The late 1870s and early 1880s

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto?oldid=1364848530#Creation

  4. 24

    What is an abbreviation made from the first letters of a phrase, such as NASA, called?

    easy

    Answer

    An acronym

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym?oldid=1364213132

  5. 25

    How can silent letters arise?

    hard

    Answer

    Sound changes occurring without a spelling change

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_letter?oldid=1361871649#English

  6. 26

    Which case is used for the first letter of a proper noun in English?

    easy

    Answer

    A capital letter

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization?oldid=1365007816

  7. 27

    What is the study of where words come from and how they change called?

    medium

    Answer

    Etymology

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology?oldid=1363804367

  8. 28

    Which writing system represents Japanese words alongside kana?

    medium

    Answer

    Kanji

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji?oldid=1364249721

  9. 29

    What is the smallest meaningful unit in language?

    hard

    Answer

    A morpheme

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme?oldid=1357066498#Changing_definitions

  10. 30

    What rhetorical device compares two things using like or as?

    easy

    Answer

    A simile

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile?oldid=1361263513

  11. 31

    Which language family includes English, Hindi, Greek, and Spanish?

    hard

    Answer

    Indo-European

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages?oldid=1365487373

  12. 32

    What is the dot above a lowercase i or j called?

    hard

    Answer

    The tittle

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tittle?oldid=1361961499

  13. 33

    How does an oxymoron combine ideas?

    medium

    Answer

    Concepts with opposite meanings

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron?oldid=1341701285

  14. 34

    What is it called when a bilingual speaker switches between languages in one conversation?

    medium

    Answer

    Code-switching

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching?oldid=1365234010#Use

  15. 35

    What other name does the ampersand have?

    easy

    Answer

    The and sign

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand?oldid=1361060898

  16. 36

    How does an abjad differ from an alphabet?

    hard

    Answer

    Only consonants are represented by letter signs

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjad?oldid=1365309583

  17. 37

    Which practice sentence about a fox and a dog uses every letter of the alphabet?

    easy

    Answer

    A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_quick_brown_fox_jumps_over_the_lazy_dog?oldid=1363164708#History

  18. 38

    What can be created when someone mishears a poem or song and substitutes similar-sounding words?

    hard

    Answer

    Mondegreens

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen?oldid=1364231388

  19. 39

    Name the grammatical mood used for commands.

    medium

    Answer

    The imperative

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperative_mood?oldid=1356285741

  20. 40

    What is an inherently funny word?

    hard

    Answer

    A word that is humorous without context

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherently_funny_word?oldid=1360309630

Questions 41–45

  1. 41

    Which sound change swaps sounds within a word, as in ask becoming aks?

    hard

    Answer

    Metathesis

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)?oldid=1363267691

  2. 42

    What does the linguistic term schwa describe?

    hard

    Answer

    A reduced mid central vowel

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_central_vowel?oldid=1360793361

  3. 43

    Which ancient script was deciphered partly through the Behistun Inscription?

    hard

    Answer

    Cuneiform

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun_inscription?oldid=1365730948

  4. 44

    What is it called when a word or part of it is repeated, as in bye-bye or zigzag?

    hard

    Answer

    Reduplication

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication?oldid=1365132222

  5. 45

    Which change in English pronunciation is the main reason spellings often no longer match how words sound?

    hard

    Answer

    The Great Vowel Shift

    Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift?oldid=1360537139

How to play

Take care not to spell out the answer when you read a question about letters or words. If a question gives a sound example, read it once at normal speed, without stressing the sound.

Timer and team scores

8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.

60

Pause whenever the group needs more time.

Team Lime's turn

Team Lime: 0

Team Violet: 0