English language Quiz - 60 Trivia Questions!

English language Quiz Cover

Test your linguistic prowess with the English language quiz, covering aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and language history.

How many people in the world speak English as their first language?

About 2 billion
12%
400 million
About 80%

Who introduced the first printing press in England in 1476?

William Caxton
The English king
The English Parliament
John Harrison

What is the oldest English-speaking university in the world, founded in 1096?

Cambridge
The University of Reading
Oxford
London

Who published 'A Dictionary of the English Language' in 1755?

John Ruskin
Charles Dickens
William Shakespeare
Samuel Johnson

Which is the third oldest university in the world, founded in 1209?

The University of Oxford
University of Cambridge
Oxford University
University of Oxford

What name is given to the formation of new words based on Greek and Latin roots?

The New World Order
Modern English
Neologisms
Words of the Old World

Which Caribbean island has a variety of English called Jamaican Creole?

Bahamas
Haiti
Grenada
Jamaica

English is classified as what type of language?

Latin
African
Modern
Germanic

What is the deictic pronoun used to refer to the speaker in a sentence?

The old lady
A friend
I
The writer

Nigerian English is a dialect of English spoken in which African country?

Zambia
Nigeria
South Africa
Ghana

What is the name of the English dialect spoken in Northern Ireland?

Standard English
British
English
Ulster

What was the name given to the language spoken by the Normans after they conquered England in 1066?

Anglo-Norman
Latin
English
Modern English

What word is used to describe a verb phrase that is made up of the verb root and the preposition that follows it?

Subordinate
Modal
Modifier
Phrasal

In English, what is the determiner for a noun phrase?

Them
The
The more
The most

What is the name for the process by which a word changes its grammatical role in English?

Conversion
Change of usage
Disjunction
Change of meaning

What country has the most native English speakers?

China
Canada
Australia
United States

What language was spoken by the Vikings in the 8th and 9th centuries, which had a strong influence on the English language?

Norse
Danish
Latin
German

What name is given to people who speak English?

The English
Anglophones
Englishmen
English-speaking

What is the second most commonly spoken foreign language in the UK after English?

German
French
Italian
Chinese

What name is given collectively to the earliest varieties of the English language?

Anglo-Saxon
Modern
Modern English
Old English

What are the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent?

Vowels
The accent is the most important thing.
Grammar
Spelling

In which profession is a working knowledge of English essential?

Teaching
Agricultural science
Engineering
Medicine

What word is used to describe the characteristics of a noun?

Adjective
Noun
Symbol
Prefix

Which two letters in the English alphabet are normally pronounced as 'and'?

C and h
C and g
O and T
A and C

English is an official language of which country?

India
Australia
China
South Africa

English is the official language of which African country?

Ethiopia
South Africa
Guinea
Tanzania

In the phonetic alphabet, what is the term for a consonant that is partly voiced?

Aik
Oog
Sigh
Lenis

What name is given to the English language spoken in Africa?

English-French
English-African
Afro-Saxon
African English

In which century did the 'Great Vowel Shift' occur in the English language?

15th century
13th century
19th century
17th century

What is the main sound of a syllable in English?

Sigh
Vowel
Long
Phone

Which country has the most dialects of the English language?

South Korea
Canada
England
South Africa

What was the name given to the change in the vowel system in English from 1350 to 1700?

New English
Great Vowel Shift
Vowel Change
The Middle English

What American accent is colloquially described as a drawl or twang?

British
Southern
English
Canadian

In English, the infinitive form of a verb is preceded by which preposition?

To the
To do
To go
To

What is the term for the system of marks used in English writing to aid the reader in comprehending the meaning of a sentence?

Punctuation
Spelling
Grammar

What follows the verb in a sentence?

Object
Word
The word "ass"
An action

What is the name of a linguist who compiles dictionaries?

Lexicographers
Dictionary authors
Grammarians
Translators

What name is given to countries where English is widely used as a second language?

Inner circle
Central Europe
Outer circle
Middle circle

What is the name of the English dialect that has a pronounced 'h-dropping' feature?

London
Old English
Cockney
South African

What is the most widely spoken native language in the world?

German
Mandarin Chinese
Spanish
English

According to the Bible, which animals have holes and the birds of the ayre have nests?

Foxes
Bears
Cats
Horses

Which country is in the expanding circle of countries where English is taught as a second language?

Poland
China
South Africa
South Korea

What is the name of the English dialect spoken in Northumberland?

Yorkshire English
Northern English
Geordie
English in Scotland

English is the official language of Australia and which other country?

New Zealand
South Africa
India
China

What is the most common English dialect?

British
Australian
American
New Zealand

In phonology, what is the approximant of the vowel 'light'?

Long
Short
Sibilant
Lateral

In language, what is the term for the change of the vowel of a strong stem, such as'speak'?

Singing
Ablaut
Sibilance
Singular

In English, what is the 'general auxiliary verb'?

Do
Go
Say
Have

English is the closest living relative of which other Germanic language?

Old English
German
Frisian
Danish

Who wrote 'Canterbury Tales' in the 12th century?

Thomas Hardy
The Lord of the Rings
William Shakespeare
Geoffrey Chaucer

What was the name of the language proposed as an international auxiliary language that would be mutually unintelligible?

Russian
English
German
Esperanto

What is the adjective for slender?

Fat
Thin
Slender
Short

What name is given to a variety of English spoken by non-native speakers?

Standard English
English-like
English Standard
Creole

What is the second person singular form of the word 'you'?

You're
I
The boy's
You

What is the term for a consonant followed by'sonorant'?

Consonant
Sibilant
Strict
Syllabic

What word is used to describe a construction in which the subject of an active phrase becomes the object of the rephrased phrase?

Inactive
Objective
Passive
Reversed

In language, what are stressed and unstressed?

Vowels
Words
Syllables
Vocabulary

What is the copula of the English verb 'to be'?

To be
To go
A
To do

In the English language, what is the symbol for a long vowel?

Colon
The letter i
Symbol
Spelling

What is the most widely spoken language in the world?

French
German
Chinese
English
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