A Review Session for the Civil Service Examination

CLERICAL ABILITY
HOUSE RULES
ENSURE – Please ensure that you are in a non-
disruptive environment during the webinar session.
PUT – Put your mobile devices in silent mode.
BE – All attendees will be on MUTE mode during
the presentation.
INTERACTIVE – Kindly participate and
interact actively, although virtually.
type – You can type your questions on the chat
below.
Common Clerical Skills
1. Typing: typing speed and accuracy; For entry-level positions, 45 words per
minute is generally an acceptable speed, though some positions may require
60 to 90 words per minute.

2. Filing:filing/organize records and documents according to different

organizational systems; arrange the names of documents, people or
organizations in alphabetical order.
3. Record-keeping/Document Tracking: - ability to keep accurate and
efficient records; organize a set of data or complete a table according to
the data provided.
4. Numerical reasoning: mathematical abilities and numerical deduction
skills.
5. Spelling and grammar: written language skills to determine your
ability to communicate through writing while working in a clerical role.
6. Attention to detail: how closely you can identify minor discrepancies;
find the difference among a group of words or phrases.
SPELLING
 Some Spelling Rules
i before e, except after c . . . .
achieve, believe, bier, brief, hygiene, grief, thief, friend, grieve, chief, fiend,
patience, pierce, priest
ceiling, conceive, deceive, perceive, receipt,
receive, deceit, conceit

. . . and in words that rhyme with hay. . .

neighbor, freight, beige, sleigh, weight, vein, and weigh

. . . and some other exceptions. . . .

either, neither, feint, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure,
weird, seize
© Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
The final y changes to i when an ending is added
.
supply becomes supplies
worry becomes worried
merry becomes merrier

. . . except when that ending is -ing. . .

crying, studying
. . . And when the y is preceded by a vowel. . . .
obeyed, saying
© Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
The silent e is dropped when adding an ending
that begins with a vowel . . .
advance + -ing = advancing
surprise + -ing = surprising

. . . but kept when the ending begins with a consonant . . .

advancement, likeness
. . . unless the e is preceded by a vowel. . . .
argue + -ment = argument
true + -ly = truly © Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
Adding a prefix seldom changes the
spelling of a word.
misspelled
unnecessary
dissatisfied
disinterested
misinform

© Capital Community College

 Some Spelling Rules
We form plurals in English by adding
-s or -es. shoes
porches
boxes
bushes
blitzes
For words ending in a consonant plus -y, change the -y to -i
and add -es. For proper nouns, keep the -y.
toys
companies
Kennedys
© Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant,
we double that consonant when the ending begins with a
vowel and the last syllable of the word is accented and that
syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

ADMIT + -ed = ADMITTED

ADMIT is accented on the last syllable and the final consonant is
preceded by a vowel, so we double the t before adding, for
instance, an -ing or -ed : admitting, admitted.
© Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant,
we double that consonant when the ending begins with a
vowel and the last syllable of the word is accented and that
syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

FLAP + -ed = FLAPPED

FLAP contains only one syllable, which means that syllable has to
be accented. The final consonant is preceded by a vowel, so we
double that final consonant: flapped, flapping.

© Capital Community College

 Some Spelling Rules
When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant,
we double that consonant when the ending begins with a
vowel and the last syllable of the word is accented and that
syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

COUNSEL + -ing = COUNSELING

COUNSEL contains two syllables and the final consonant is
preceded by a vowel, but the word is accented on the first
syllable, so we don’t double the consonant before adding an
ending.
© Capital Community College
 Some Spelling Rules
When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant,
we double that consonant when the ending begins with a
vowel and the last syllable of the word is accented and that
syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

DESPAIR + -ed = DESPAIRED

DESPAIR contains two syllables, and the final syllable is
accented, but the final consonant is preceded by two vowels, not
a single vowel, so we don’t double that final consonant when we
add an ending.
© Capital Community College
Some Spelling Rules
 The letter q is usually followed
by u.
Example: queen, quick, quality,
quorum

 The letter S never follows X.

© Capital Community College

Some Spelling Rules
The consonants v, j, k, w and x are
never doubled.

 Adding a prefix to a word does

not usually change the spelling.

Examples: bi + cycle= bicycle, re + act= react

© Capital Community College

Some Spelling Rules
To make a word plural, if
the word ends with a
consonant and y, change
the y to an i and add es.
Ex: salary - salaries

© Capital Community College

Some Spelling Rules
 Words ending in a vowel y
and can add
the suffix -ed or -ing without making any
other change.
Examples: buying, delaying, employed

© Capital Community College

SPELLING EXERCISES:
EXERCISE 1: In each of the groups of words below, one word may
be misspelled or no words may be misspelled. If a word is
misspelled, write it correctly to the right of each group. If none
of the words in the group is misspelled, write "none."

1. fuzzes, laundrys, sufficient

2. turkeys, trophies, arrival, armies
3. acrage, analysis, dosage
4. acompaniment, played, interviewed20. halves, accross,
attendant
5. privilege, excelling, eighth
6. adolescence, contemporary, ninty
SPELLING EXERCISES:

7. athletic, conscious, mathmatics

8. performence, fiery, recede
9. leisure, familiar, professor
10. undoubtly, experience, succeed
11. seize, acceptance, grammer
12. pleasant, slyly, watches
13. accidentally, embarass, intelligence
14. prejudice, preferred, lieutenant
15. payed, characteristic, intelligence
16. sergeant, noticable, deceit
17. particuler, arbitrarily, attorneys
20. subtle, judgement, ancient
21. said, envirement, interest
22. realize, alleys, acheive
23. preference, convenient, releif
24. awkward, considerably, neccessasry
25. activity, aproach, familiar
26. quantity, couragous, niece
27. irresponsible, concuring, vein
28. accumulate, benefit, fourty
29. surprize, audience, proceed
30. acquire, condemm, interpret
31. recommend, required, conscience
32. forfiet, appreciate, extremely
33. protein, accomplish, fasinate
34. seperate, diaries, receipt
35. athlete, careful, marriage
36. analyze, decision, occurence
37. sophmore, supersede, conceit
38. thieves, agressive, occasion
ANSWER KEY
1. laundries
2. none
3. acreage
4. accompaniment
5. none
6. ninety
7. mathematics
8. performance
9. professor
10. undoubtedly
11. grammar
12. none
13. embarrass
14. none
15. paid
16. noticeable
17. particular
18. Government
19. permit
20. across
21. judgment
22. environment
23. achieve
24. relief
25. necessary
26. approach
27. courageous
28. concurring
29. forty
30. surprise
31. condemn
32. none
33. forfeit
34. fascinate
35. separate
36. none
37. occurrence
38. sophomore
39. aggressive
ALPHABET FILING RULES
1. Always write the given names of the persons in the
appropriate format of alphabetizing.

Here's the right format:

Surname, First Name, Middle Name or Middle Initial.

Sample Problem:
● Jonathan Q. Santiago
● Ma. Anita G. Patapat
● Juan Simon F. Farron
● Claude Alex A. Tibay
● Sheila Belinda M. Cruz
Notice that the given names are not written in the way as stated above. Thus, you need to
arrange them in this manner:

● Santiago, Jonathan Q.
● Patapat, Ma. Anita G.
● Farron, Juan Simon F.
● Tibay, Claude Alex A.
● Cruz, Sheila Belinda M.

Finally, we can now alphabetize the given names:

● Cruz, Sheila Beilnda M.

● Farron, Juan Simon F.
● Patapat, Ma. Anita G.
● Santiago, Jonathan Q.
● Tibay, Claude Alex A.
2. Names without middle initial or middle name are filed first
before the names with a middle initial or middle name.

The principle of "nothing comes before something" applies in this kind of

situation. That is, the
name without a middle name comes before a name with a middle name.

Sample Problem:
● Juan Simon Patapat Toledo
● Juan Simon Toledo
Note that the name Juan Simon Toledo has no middle
name. Thus, this comes before the name
Juan Simon Patapat Toledo which has a middle name.

Therefore, the correct arrangement should be:

● Toledo, Juan Simon
● Toledo, Juan Simon Patapat
3. Compound surnames are treated as a single unit.
Some surnames have a prefix that precedes another word.
Examples are Delos Reyes, Delos
Santos, Dela Cruz, and Villa Roman.

Sample Problem:

● Ma. Bertha G. Delos Reyes

● Victor A. Del Monte
● Guido Q. Santos
● Armando S. Dimaguiba
Treat compound surnames as a single unit.
Afterwards, rewrite the given names such that the
surname is written first:

● Del Monte, Victor A.

● Delos Reyes, Ma. Bertha G.
● Dimaguiba, Armando S.
● Santos, Guido Q.
4. Ignore the hyphen (-) in a hyphenated name.
The hyphen can be found either in the surname, first name,
or middle name. The important
thing here is to consider these hyphenated names as one unit
only and ignore the hyphen.

Sample Problem:

● Ma. Leticia U. Manansala-Patapat

● Arnold G. Smith-Nomad
● Antony Q. Toledo-Santiago
● Adrian P. Ramos
Consider the hyphenated words as a single unit only (ignore
the hyphen). Afterward, write the
given names such that the surname is written first:

● Manansala-Patapat, Ma. Leticia U.

● Ramos, Adrian P.
● Smith-Nomad, Arnold G.
● Toledo-Santiago, Anthony Q.
5. Name suffixes such as Jr. and Sr. as well as
designations such as Ph.D. and CPA are written as the
last unit of the name.\

Sample Problem:

● Victor G. Cruz, Jr.

● Ellen Q. Manansala, PhD.
● Arnold D. Delos Santos, Sr.
Write the given names in the format Surname, First Name
Middle Name, Name Suffix.

Afterward, alphabetize the given names. The answer

should be:

● Cruz, Victor G. Jr.

● Delos Santos, Arnold D. Sr.
● Manansala, Ellen Q. PhD.
6. Name titles such as Mr., Mrs., Engr., Dr., Atty., are also written as the last unit of the
name.

In a case where a name has a title and a suffix, the suffix comes first before the title.

For example, the name Dr. Ramon P. Manansala, Sr. must be arranged as Manansala,
Ramon P.
Sr. Dr.

Sample Problem:
● Mr. Jonathan Delos Santos, Jr.
● Dr. Anna Beth P. Dimaguiba
● Alejandro G. Agustin
● Atty. Jonathan Delos Santos, Sr.
● Jonathan Delos Santos, Jr.
Rewrite the given names following the format stated above.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Jr. Mr.
• Dimaguiba, Anna Beth P. Dr.
● Agustin, Alejandro G.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Sr. Atty.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Jr.

Finally, arrange the given names alphabetically.

● Agustin, Alejandro G.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Jr.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Jr. Mr.
● Delos Santos, Jonathan Sr. Atty.
● Dimaguiba, Anna Beth P. Dr.
7. If the business name has the name of the individual, write
the business name in this format: Surname, First Name,
Nature/Purpose of the business.

Suppose that the given business name was Alicia Bernardo Dental Clinic. We
must write the
given business name as Bernardo Alicia Dental Clinic.

Sample Problem:

Alphabetize the following business names:

● Carlo Salvador Tireshop

● Michael Delos Reyes Bakeshop
● Marco Tibay Computer Shop
● Makati Clubhouse
● Delos Reyes Michael Bakeshop
● Makati Clubhouse
● Salvador Carlo Tireshop
● Tibay Marco Computer Shop

However, it is not necessary to transform business names with

the name of an individual if that
person is well-known.
For example, if the business name is Jose Rizal Bookstore. You
don’t have to write it as Rizal,
Jose Bookstore since the name Jose Rizal is well-known.
8. When alphabetizing business names or organizations,
ignore or drop the punctuation marks such as period(.), comma(,),
apostrophe(‘), and hyphen(-).

For example, business names such as Brian’s Shop will be written as Brians
Shop; Charmaine’s
Beauty Parlor will be written as Charmaines Beauty Parlor; and Sasha-
Ramon Bakeshop will be
written as SashaRamon Bakeshop.

Sample Problem:
● Carla’s Flower Shop
● Golden Bank Incorporated
● Anita Manansala Dental Clinic
● Shiela’s Beauty Salon
● Happy Place Milktea
Answer:

● Carlas Flower Shop

• Golden Bank Incorporated
● Happy Place Milktea
● Manansala Anita Dental Clinic
● Shiela’s Beauty Salon
9. Ignore articles such as the, a, and an of a given business name
or organization.

Suppose that the given business name is The Downtown Laundry

Shop. We will only write the
given business name as Downtown Laundry Shop.

Sample Problem:
● The Gamer’s Hut
● All Around Toy Store
● Jessie Cruz Consultancy Firm
● James Harper Incorporated
● A Korean Cuisine spot
Answer:

● All Around Toy Store

● Cruz Jessie Consultancy Firm
● Harper James Incorporated
● Gamer’s Hut
● Korean Cuisine Spot
QUESTIONS???