Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Litigants
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This spelling question tests knowledge of a legal term that appears frequently in news reports and law related passages. The target word refers to people who are involved in a lawsuit or legal action. Among the four similar looking options, only one reflects the standard dictionary spelling. The exam checks whether candidates pay attention to vowel placement and consonant patterns in formal English words.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The correct word is litigants, formed from the singular litigant plus the plural suffix s. The root litigant is related to litigation, both sharing the sequence l i t i g. The syllable structure is li ti gant, not lete or lete, and the final vowel a before n is important. The incorrect options replace vowels or alter the sequence in a way that breaks this connection. The easiest approach is to recall the familiar noun litigation and notice how litigant and litigants match that pattern, retaining the i after t and using a before n in the last syllable.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the base noun litigant, which refers to a party in a lawsuit.Step 2: Form the plural by adding s, creating litigants.Step 3: Compare this spelling to the options and notice that option C, Litigants, matches exactly.Step 4: Observe that Litegants uses e after t instead of i, breaking the link to litigation.Step 5: Observe that Litigents and Litegents both contain e before n, which does not match the correct pattern in the final syllable gant.
Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by placing the word in typical sentences from news or law related articles: The court asked the litigants to submit additional documents and The litigants reached a settlement outside court. Reading these, the spelling litigants looks familiar and correct. If we tried Litegants or Litigents in such sentences, they would appear wrong to anyone familiar with the legal term. Checking the related words litigation and litigious further strengthens the connection between the letters l i t i g and confirms that Litigants is the correct spelling.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Litegants: This replaces the second i with e, making the internal pattern l e t e, which does not appear in the family of words litigation and litigant. Litigents: Although this keeps l i t i g, it changes the final vowel to e and suggests a pronunciation similar to agents, which is incorrect. Litegents: This combines both sets of errors, making it even further from the accepted spelling. None of these variants are recognised in standard dictionaries and would count as spelling mistakes in an exam or formal writing.
Common Pitfalls:
Because several options differ only by one letter, candidates who rely purely on sound or quick visual impression may choose incorrectly. Another pitfall is to confuse litigants with derivatives of the word legend or agent because of the similar ending, leading to the choice of a form like Litigents. A robust strategy is to build words from their known roots. Remembering litigation and then deriving litigant and litigants from that root helps keep the vowel sequence consistent and avoids confusion with unrelated word families.
Final Answer:
The correctly spelt word is Litigants.
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