11+ Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: The Mistakes Exam Questions Test Most
By Simply Eleven Plus · Updated 25 October 2026 · 5 min read
Many 11+ English papers include questions where a child has to find the mistake in a line of text. The same errors come up again and again, so learning them is one of the most efficient ways to pick up marks.
Words that sound the same
| Words | Rule |
|---|---|
| their / there / they’re | their = belonging to them; there = a place; they’re = they are |
| its / it’s | its = belonging to it; it’s = it is or it has |
| your / you’re | your = belonging to you; you’re = you are |
| to / too / two | too = also or too much; two = 2 |
| affect / effect | affect is usually the action (verb); effect is usually the thing (noun) |
Example
Find the mistake: The dog wagged it’s tail when they’re owner came home.
“it’s” should be its (belonging to the dog), and “they’re” should be their (belonging to them).
Spelling patterns that catch children out
- Doubling consonants: beginning, occurred, travelling (in British English), but opened and visited.
- -able and -ible: comfortable, reliable; but possible, terrible, visible.
- Commonly misspelt words: necessary, separate, definitely, environment, rhythm, government.
- i before e except after c (when the sound is “ee”): believe, receive. There are exceptions, such as “weird” and “seize”.
Punctuation
- Apostrophes for possession: the girl’s coat (one girl), the girls’ coats (more than one girl), the children’s coats.
- Capital letters for names, places, days and months, and the start of every sentence.
- Commas in lists: apples, pears and plums.
- Speech marks: the punctuation goes inside: “Come here,” said Mum.
Grammar
- Matching subject and verb: “the box of pens is”, not “are”.
- Tense: don’t switch between past and present in one sentence.
- “I” or “me”: take the other person out and see if it still sounds right: “Sam and I went”, “with Sam and me”.
How to spot mistakes in the exam
- Read the line slowly, word by word, rather than at normal reading speed.
- Check the apostrophes and homophones first, as they are the most common errors.
- If nothing looks wrong, many papers have a “no mistake” option, so don’t invent one.
Practise it
The method only sticks with practice. Try spelling, punctuation and grammar questions on Simply Eleven Plus, free to start, with instant marking and an explanation for every answer, or sit a free live mock exam to practise under real exam conditions.
Free 11+ live mock exams
Let your child sit a real-time, timed mock paper online, then go through the trickiest questions together. It’s free.