The history of the English language can be traced back to the migration of Germanic tribes to the British Isles in the 5th and 6th centuries. These tribes, including the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, brought with them a group of related languages that eventually developed into Old English. Old English was heavily influenced by the languages of the Celts and the Vikings, resulting in a rich linguistic blend.

In the 11th century, the Norman Conquest brought French-speaking Normans to England, leading to the introduction of French vocabulary and influences on the English language. This period, known as Middle English, saw a fusion of Old English and Norman French, giving rise to the unique linguistic characteristics found in Middle English texts such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales.”

The Renaissance in the 14th to 17th centuries saw a resurgence of interest in classical languages and literature, which influenced the English language. The standardization of English spelling and grammar also began during this period.

The British Empire’s expansion in the 17th to 20th centuries spread the English language across the globe, making it a dominant global language. English adopted words from various languages due to contact with different cultures, resulting in a diverse vocabulary.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the rise of industrialization and technological advancements led to further changes in the English language, with the emergence of new terms related to science, technology, and the modern world.

Today, English continues to evolve and adapt, influenced by global communication, pop culture, and advancements in technology. It has become a lingua franca in many fields, facilitating international communication and serving as a common language for diverse cultures worldwide.

Table of content

• Part 1: 30 English quiz questions & answers
• Part 2: Download English trivia questions & answers for free
• Part 3: Free online quiz creator – OnlineExamMaker

Part 1: 30 English trivia multiple-choice questions with answers

1. Which author wrote the novel “Pride and Prejudice”?
a) Jane Austen
b) Charles Dickens
c) George Orwell
d) Mark Twain
Answer: a) Jane Austen

2. Which of the following is not a type of poem?
a) Sonnet
b) Haiku
c) Ballad
d) Simile
Answer: d) Simile

3. What is the longest English word in the dictionary?
a) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
b) Antidisestablishmentarianism
c) Floccinaucinihilipilification
d) Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Answer: d) Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

4. Who is the protagonist in George Orwell’s novel “1984”?
a) Winston Churchill
b) Winston Smith
c) George Orwell
d) Big Brother
Answer: b) Winston Smith

5. In Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet,” which family does Romeo belong to?
a) Montague
b) Capulet
c) Borgia
d) Medici
Answer: a) Montague

6. What is the term for a word that sounds like the noise it represents?
a) Onomatopoeia
b) Metaphor
c) Alliteration
d) Hyperbole
Answer: a) Onomatopoeia

7. Who wrote the poem “The Raven”?
a) Robert Frost
b) Emily Dickinson
c) Edgar Allan Poe
d) Langston Hughes
Answer: c) Edgar Allan Poe

8. Which of the following is not a Shakespearean play?
a) Macbeth
b) Hamlet
c) Othello
d) Ulysses
Answer: d) Ulysses

9. What is the opposite of “synonym”?
a) Antonym
b) Homonym
c) Acronym
d) Metonym
Answer: a) Antonym

10. Which British author wrote the “Harry Potter” series?
a) J.R.R. Tolkien
b) J.K. Rowling
c) C.S. Lewis
d) Lewis Carroll
Answer: b) J.K. Rowling

11. What is the capitalization rule for titles in English writing?
a) Capitalize every word
b) Capitalize only the first and last word
c) Capitalize all nouns and verbs
d) Capitalize the important words
Answer: d) Capitalize the important words

12. Who is considered the father of English literature?
a) William Shakespeare
b) Geoffrey Chaucer
c) John Milton
d) William Wordsworth
Answer: b) Geoffrey Chaucer

13. What is the correct plural form of the word “cactus”?
a) Cactuss
b) Cacti
c) Cactusies
d) Cactuses
Answer: b) Cacti

14. Which of the following is not a figure of speech?
a) Simile
b) Metaphor
c) Hyperbole
d) Sentence
Answer: d) Sentence

15.Who wrote the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”?
a) F. Scott Fitzgerald
b) Harper Lee
c) Ernest Hemingway
d) John Steinbeck
Answer: b) Harper Lee

Part 2: Download English trivia questions & answers for free

16. What is the term for a word or phrase that means the opposite of its literal meaning?
a) Irony
b) Paradox
c) Sarcasm
d) Oxymoron
Answer: d) Oxymoron

17. Which of the following is a type of punctuation mark?
a) Ampersand
b) Hashtag
c) Parenthesis
d) Asterisk
Answer: c) Parenthesis

18. Who is the author of “Moby-Dick”?
a) Herman Melville
b) Nathaniel Hawthorne
c) Mark Twain
d) Edgar Allan Poe
Answer: a) Herman Melville

19. What is the process of making a word past tense by adding “-ed” or “-d” called?
a) Conjugation
b) Inflection
c) Derivation
d) Tense agreement
Answer: b) Inflection

20. Which of the following is a type of conjunction?
a) And
b) But
c) Therefore
d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above

21. Who wrote the play “Hamlet”?
a) William Shakespeare
b) Oscar Wilde
c) George Bernard Shaw
d) Tennessee Williams
Answer: a) William Shakespeare

22. What is the term for a word that has the same meaning as another word?
a) Homonym
b) Synonym
c) Antonym
d) Metaphor
Answer: b) Synonym

23. Which novel features the character Atticus Finch?
a) “The Great Gatsby”
b) “To Kill a Mockingbird”
c) “1984”
d) “Pride and Prejudice”
Answer: b) “To Kill a Mockingbird”

24. What is the correct order of the three main parts of an essay?
a) Introduction, body, conclusion
b) Body, introduction, conclusion
c) Conclusion, introduction, body
d) Conclusion, body, introduction
Answer: a) Introduction, body, conclusion

25. Who is the author of the play “Romeo and Juliet”?
a) William Shakespeare
b) Samuel Beckett
c) Arthur Miller
d) Tennessee Williams
Answer: a) William Shakespeare

26. What is the term for a word that imitates the sound it represents?
a) Onomatopoeia
b) Simile
c) Metaphor
d) Hyperbole
Answer: a) Onomatopoeia

27. Who is the author of the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”?
a) J.D. Salinger
b) Ernest Hemingway
c) F. Scott Fitzgerald
d) John Steinbeck
Answer: a) J.D. Salinger

28. What is the term for a group of words that expresses a complete thought?
a) Phrase
b) Clause
c) Sentence
d) Fragment
Answer: c) Sentence

29. Who wrote the poem “The Waste Land”?
a) T.S. Eliot
b) W.B. Yeats

c) Robert Frost
d) Emily Dickinson
Answer: a) T.S. Eliot

30. What is the correct spelling of the word meaning “extremely funny”?
a) Hilarious
b) Hillarious
c) Hilerious
d) Hilarous
Answer: a) Hilarious

Part 3: Free online quiz creator – OnlineExamMaker

With a powerful online Question Editor, OnlineExamMaker supports multimedia elements, allowing instructors to incorporate images, audio, and video files into quizzes. This feature helps in creating interactive and visually-rich English langue assessments, enhancing student engagement.