Holidays Vocabulary: Practice Questions & Explanations

THANKSGIVING is on the USCIS WRITING VOCABULARY list. Correct spelling: 'T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G' — written as ONE word (no space between 'Thanks' and 'giving'). Pay attention to: starts with 'TH' (not just 'T'); 'GIVING' is spelled with 'I-V-I-N-G' (no 'e' before the 'ing'). Common dictation sentence: 'Thanksgiving is in November.' 'We have Thanksgiving Day.' 'Thanksgiving is a holiday.' Other HOLIDAYS on the USCIS writing vocabulary list: COLUMBUS DAY (C-o-l-u-m-b-u-s D-a-y); FATHERS DAY (F-a-t-h-e-r-s D-a-y, can be Father's Day with apostrophe); FLAG DAY (F-l-a-g D-a-y); INDEPENDENCE DAY (I-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-c-e D-a-y) — note 'Independence' has '-ence' ending, not '-ance'; LABOR DAY (L-a-b-o-r D-a-y); MEMORIAL DAY (M-e-m-o-r-i-a-l D-a-y); MOTHERS DAY (M-o-t-h-e-r-s D-a-y); PRESIDENTS DAY (P-r-e-s-i-d-e-n-t-s D-a-y); THANKSGIVING (T-h-a-n-k-s-g-i-v-i-n-g). Note the capitalization of holiday names — both words start with capital letters: Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, etc. THANKSGIVING is typically just ONE word; the others are TWO words.

Correct sentence: 'Columbus Day is in October.' COLUMBUS DAY is on the USCIS HOLIDAYS WRITING VOCABULARY list. Correct spelling: C-O-L-U-M-B-U-S D-A-Y. 'Day' spelling: D-A-Y (3 letters, ends in Y not I). Common dictation sentences: 'Columbus Day is in October.' 'We celebrate Columbus Day in October.' COLUMBUS DAY history: honors Christopher Columbus who made his first voyage to the Americas in 1492; federally observed on the second Monday in October; note that some cities and states have renamed this holiday 'Indigenous Peoples Day' to honor Native Americans — the USCIS test uses 'Columbus Day' as the official federal holiday name.

Month: October — O-C-T-O-B-E-R. Holiday-month pairings to know cold: Presidents Day (February), Memorial Day (May), Flag Day (June), Independence Day (July), Labor Day (September), Columbus Day (October), Thanksgiving (November). Writing both the holiday name and its month correctly is the skill being tested in sentences like this.

THANKSGIVING is on the USCIS WRITING VOCABULARY list under HOLIDAYS. The correct spelling is 'T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G.' A common dictation sentence is 'Thanksgiving is in November.' The writing vocabulary's holidays include Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Thanksgiving. On the writing test, the officer dictates a sentence and the applicant writes it, needing one of up to three correct. Practicing holiday spellings, paired with their months, prepares applicants for the dictation sentences they are most likely to encounter.

INDEPENDENCE DAY is on the USCIS WRITING VOCABULARY list under HOLIDAYS. The correct spelling is 'I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-E D-A-Y' — note the 'ence' ending, not 'ance.' A common dictation sentence is 'Independence Day is in July.' The writing test asks the applicant to write one dictated sentence correctly out of up to three. 'Independence' is a commonly misspelled word, so practicing it is worthwhile. As with all writing-test answers, minor errors that still let the sentence be understood are generally acceptable, but accurate spelling builds confidence.