DET Reading

DET Read & Select Practice:
170 Real vs. Fake Word Questions

By Sam  |  DETnTedu.com

These 170 bonus questions are designed to help you master one of the fastest question types on the DET: Read & Select.

Your task for each word is simple: is it a real English word, or a fake one?

Work quickly. You have no more than five seconds per word. These questions are adapted from the upcoming book DET 120+ in 30 Days, which will include the full strategy breakdown, fake word analysis, and complete guides for every DET question type. Follow DETnTedu.com for the release announcement.

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Real DET Timing Rule

• Maximum: 5 seconds per word
• No dictionary. No second-guessing.
• Trust your instinct — that is exactly what the DET tests.

How to Use This Practice Set

• Work through each section in order — Foundation first, then Intermediate, then Advanced.
• Give yourself a strict five-second limit per word.
• Mark your answers before scrolling to the answer key.
• For any word you get wrong, note the pattern — which of the five methods was used?

Quick Reference: The Five Fake Word Methods

Keep these in mind as you work through the questions.

Method	What It Does	Example
Letter Reversal	Swaps vowel pairs	recieve (Fake) → receive (Real)
False Suffix/Prefix	Adds impossible ending	cemention (Fake) → cement (Real)
Letter Addition/Deletion	Adds or removes one letter	begining (Fake) → beginning (Real)
Word Fusion	Merges two words into nonsense	suitbag (Fake) → no real word
Plausible Nonsense	Sounds real but isn't	crandive (Fake) → no real word

Before you begin — grab a pen and paper, or open a notes app on your device. Mark your answers as you go, then check them against the answer key at the bottom of each section. Ready? Let's go.

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Section 1 of 3

Foundation Level — Questions 1–60

Focus: common spelling traps · ei/ie confusion · double consonants

Mark Y (Yes, real word) or N (No, fake word) for each:

#	Word	Y/N
1	absence	___
2	allready	___
3	achieve	___
4	acrossed	___
5	ancient	___
6	answere	___
7	argument	___
8	arrivve	___
9	athlete	___
10	autumm	___
11	balance	___
12	bargain	___
13	basicly	___
14	beautiful	___
15	becouse	___
16	beginning	___
17	beleive	___
18	benefit	___
19	breathe	___
20	briliant	___
21	brought	___
22	business	___
23	carefull	___
24	ceiling	___
25	challange	___
26	colleague	___
27	coloumn	___
28	committee	___
29	comunity	___
30	conscience	___
31	foreign	___
32	forward	___
33	fourty	___
34	freind	___
35	fulfill	___
36	generel	___
37	government	___
38	grammer	___
39	grateful	___
40	guarentee	___
41	guard	___
42	happenn	___
43	height	___
44	horrabel	___
45	humorous	___
46	immediatly	___
47	important	___
48	independant	___
49	instead	___
50	interest	___
51	iland	___
52	judgment	___
53	knowlege	___
54	language	___
55	leisure	___
56	necessary	___
57	neighbor	___
58	occurred	___
59	privilege	___
60	rhythm	___

Answer Key — Section 1

1-Y / 2-N (already) / 3-Y / 4-N (across) / 5-Y / 6-N (answer) / 7-Y / 8-N (arrive) / 9-Y / 10-N (autumn) / 11-Y / 12-Y / 13-N (basically) / 14-Y / 15-N (because) / 16-Y / 17-N (believe) / 18-Y / 19-Y / 20-N (brilliant) / 21-Y / 22-Y / 23-N (careful) / 24-Y / 25-N (challenge) / 26-Y / 27-N (column) / 28-Y / 29-N (community) / 30-Y / 31-Y / 32-Y / 33-N (forty) / 34-N (friend) / 35-Y / 36-N (general) / 37-Y / 38-N (grammar) / 39-Y / 40-N (guarantee) / 41-Y / 42-N (happen) / 43-Y / 44-N (horrible) / 45-Y / 46-N (immediately) / 47-Y / 48-N (independent) / 49-Y / 50-Y / 51-N (island) / 52-Y / 53-N (knowledge) / 54-Y / 55-Y / 56-Y / 57-Y / 58-Y / 59-Y / 60-Y

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Section 2 of 3

Intermediate Level — Questions 61–120

Focus: multi-syllable words · pronunciation-spelling gaps

Mark Y or N for each. Keep the five-second rule.

#	Word	Y/N
61	liaison	___
62	lisence	___
63	literally	___
64	lonelness	___
65	maintainance	___
66	manageable	___
67	mathematic	___
68	medieval	___
69	miniture	___
70	miscellaneous	___
71	mischievious	___
72	misspell	___
73	mysterius	___
74	prejudice	___
75	nieghbor	___
76	niether	___
77	noticeable	___
78	obstical	___
79	occasion	___
80	occured	___
81	ommision	___
82	oportunity	___
83	origional	___
84	parliment	___
85	particuler	___
86	perceive	___
87	permanant	___
88	persevere	___
89	possesion	___
90	practize	___
91	pronunciation	___
92	psycology	___
93	pursue	___
94	questionaire	___
95	realize	___
96	reciept	___
97	recieve	___
98	recognize	___
99	recomend	___
100	relevent	___
101	repetition	___
102	resistanse	___
103	responsible	___
104	rythm	___
105	rediculous	___
106	satallite	___
107	shedule	___
108	seperate	___
109	significent	___
110	similer	___
111	sincerely	___
112	specificaly	___
113	sufficient	___
114	suprise	___
115	throughly	___
116	tommorrow	___
117	vacuum	___
118	villian	___
119	wierd	___
120	zealous	___

Answer Key — Section 2

61-Y / 62-N (license) / 63-Y / 64-N (loneliness) / 65-N (maintenance) / 66-Y / 67-N (mathematics) / 68-Y / 69-N (miniature) / 70-Y / 71-N (mischievous) / 72-Y / 73-N (mysterious) / 74-Y / 75-N (neighbor) / 76-N (neither) / 77-Y / 78-N (obstacle) / 79-Y / 80-N (occurred) / 81-N (omission) / 82-N (opportunity) / 83-N (original) / 84-N (parliament) / 85-N (particular) / 86-Y / 87-N (permanent) / 88-Y / 89-N (possession) / 90-N (practice) / 91-Y / 92-N (psychology) / 93-Y / 94-N (questionnaire) / 95-Y / 96-N (receipt) / 97-N (receive) / 98-Y / 99-N (recommend) / 100-N (relevant) / 101-Y / 102-N (resistance) / 103-Y / 104-N (rhythm) / 105-N (ridiculous) / 106-N (satellite) / 107-N (schedule) / 108-N (separate) / 109-N (significant) / 110-N (similar) / 111-Y / 112-N (specifically) / 113-Y / 114-N (surprise) / 115-N (thoroughly) / 116-N (tomorrow) / 117-Y / 118-N (villain) / 119-N (weird) / 120-Y

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Section 3 of 3

Advanced Level — Questions 121–170

Focus: academic vocabulary · Latin/Greek roots · look-alike pairs

These are the words that appear at higher DET score levels. Stay sharp.

#	Word	Y/N
121	aberration	___
122	abberation	___
123	abhorrent	___
124	acquiesce	___
125	ackwiesce	___
126	acrimonious	___
127	adversarial	___
128	aesthetic	___
129	affluant	___
130	allegiance	___
131	allevieate	___
132	ameliorate	___
133	anachronesm	___
134	audacious	___
135	audaciuos	___
136	auspicious	___
137	benevolant	___
138	benevolent	___
139	cacophony	___
140	cacophany	___
141	clandestine	___
142	corroberate	___
143	cynical	___
144	eloquent	___
145	exuberant	___
146	exuberent	___
147	fastidious	___
148	feaseble	___
149	ferocious	___
150	flucteate	___
151	formidable	___
152	fortuiteous	___
153	gregarious	___
154	gregariuos	___
155	hypocritical	___
156	imminent	___
157	imminant	___
158	impeccable	___
159	inadvertent	___
160	incessant	___
161	inevitable	___
162	ingenious	___
163	ingeniuos	___
164	lucrative	___
165	meticulous	___
166	nonchalant	___
167	perpetual	___
168	scrutinize	___
169	tenacious	___
170	ubiquitous	___

Answer Key — Section 3

121-Y / 122-N (aberration) / 123-Y / 124-Y / 125-N (acquiesce) / 126-Y / 127-Y / 128-Y / 129-N (affluent) / 130-Y / 131-N (alleviate) / 132-Y / 133-N (anachronism) / 134-Y / 135-N (audacious) / 136-Y / 137-N (benevolent) / 138-Y / 139-Y / 140-N (cacophony) / 141-Y / 142-N (corroborate) / 143-Y / 144-Y / 145-Y / 146-N (exuberant) / 147-Y / 148-N (feasible) / 149-Y / 150-N (fluctuate) / 151-Y / 152-N (fortuitous) / 153-Y / 154-N (gregarious) / 155-Y / 156-Y / 157-N (imminent) / 158-Y / 159-Y / 160-Y / 161-Y / 162-Y / 163-N (ingenious) / 164-Y / 165-Y / 166-Y / 167-Y / 168-Y / 169-Y / 170-Y

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What Your Mistakes Tell You

Do not just count your score — look at the pattern. Understanding why you got something wrong is worth more than the number itself.

If you missed...	What it likely means
Many ei/ie words	You are relying on pronunciation instead of visual memory. Train your eye, not your ear.
Multi-syllable intermediate words	You may be skipping middle syllables at speed. Slow down on longer words and break them into chunks.
Advanced academic words	Your academic vocabulary base might need expanding. Reading formal articles — like The Economist or Scientific American — will help more than just memorizing word lists.
Words with false suffixes	You need more practice with root recognition. Focus on common roots and the suffixes that actually attach to them.
Plausible nonsense words	These are the hardest to catch. The only real fix is volume — the more real English you read, the faster fake words feel wrong.

How Did You Do?

Score	What It Means
155–170	Excellent — Read & Select is your strength. Keep it there.
130–154	Good — Review the words you missed and identify the pattern.
100–129	Fair — Go back to the Foundation and Intermediate sections.
Below 100	Keep practicing — focus on the five fake word methods first.

Want More DET Practice Like This?

DET 120+ in 30 Days is coming soon. When it launches, you will find:

• A full Read & Select strategy system
• 1,000+ additional practice items across all question types
• The TSM Formula for Speaking and Writing
• Interactive Reading and Listening breakdowns
• Speaking and Writing sample answers with score-level analysis
• A complete 30-day study plan

Follow DETnTedu.com to be the first to know when it drops.

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