What does accidentally mean?
Word: Accidentally
Part of Speech: Adverb
Meaning: Accidentally means by chance or by mistake, without meaning to.
Synonyms: by chance, by mistake, unintentionally
Antonyms: intentionally, on purpose
How do you spell accidentally?
Syllables: ac - ci - den - tal - ly
Tricky part: The ending is ally with two l's: the al of the adjective plus ly.
Watch out for: acidentally, accidentaly, accidentlly
Memory tip: Look at the end of the word: accidenTALLY finishes with tally, t-a-l-l-y.
Accidentally in a sentence
Example 1: Marco accidentally deleted his project file the night before it was due.
Example 2: I accidentally put salt in my tea instead of sugar.
Example 3: The puppy accidentally knocked the flower pot off the balcony.
Fun Fact
Penicillin, one of the first antibiotics, was discovered accidentally in 1928, when Alexander Fleming noticed that mould on a forgotten dish had killed the bacteria around it.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
ac_id_ntally
a) s, e
b) c, e
c) s, a
d) c, a
Show answer
b) c, e. Think of the noun accident: two c's, then e before the n.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
yltnadiceacl
a) incidentally
b) coincidentally
c) accidentally
d) accidental
Show answer
c) accidentally. The y rules out accidental, and incidentally and coincidentally both need a second i and a second n.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
accidentally
a) mistakenly
b) suddenly
c) unknowingly
d) deliberately
Show answer
d) deliberately. Doing something deliberately means you planned it, the opposite of by accident.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) accidentally
b) probably
c) definately
d) especially
Show answer
c) definately. Definitely ends in ite, as in finite; the other three are spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which event happened accidentally?
a) Tara spilt juice when the bus braked
b) Tara practised her speech twice
c) Tara wrapped a gift for a friend
d) Tara baked a cake for her mum
Show answer
a) Tara spilt juice when the bus braked
2. Anna accidentally broke a vase. What would she most likely say?
a) Sorry, I didn't mean to do that.
b) I wanted to hear it smash.
c) I was told to break it.
d) I broke it because I was cross.
Show answer
a) Sorry, I didn't mean to do that.
