Abbreviations Quiz

You can do this quiz online or print it on paper. It’s based on our Abbreviations pages.

1. The verb abbreviate means to

provide an example
make shorter
reduce in quality
a) a provide an example b) make shorter c) reduce in quality

2. Which type of abbreviation is BBC?

an initialism
a contraction
a shortening
a) an initialism b) a contraction c) a shortening

3. When an abbreviation is a shortening, the front and/or end of the word is

cut up
cut off
cut in
a) cut up b) cut off c) cut in

4. The modern approach to punctuating acronyms is to use

no full stops
one full stop
two full stops
a) no full stops b) one full stop c) two full stops

5. When you cut out part of the inside of a word, you form

a contraction
an acronym
an initialism
a) a contraction b) an acronym c) an initialism

6. In contractions of more than one word, missing letters are replaced by

a full stop
a comma
an apostrophe
a) a full stop b) a comma c) an apostrophe

7. Contractions may be used to save space in writing or

ink in printing
time in speaking
choice in punctuation
a) ink in printing b) time in speaking c) choice in punctuation

8. Initialisms are usually pronounced as

letters
contractions
words
a) letters b) contractions c) words

9. An acronym is usually pronounced as

letters
a word
a phrase
a) letters b) a word c) a phrase

10. Shortenings like app, zoo and bike are usually spoken in the

original form
informal form
initial form
a) original form b) informal form c) initial form

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