What does ballad mean?
Word: Ballad
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Ballad means a song or poem that tells a story in short verses; also, a slow, gentle love song.
Synonyms: song, poem
How do you spell ballad?
Syllables: bal - lad
Tricky part: The l is doubled: a ballad began as a dancing song, from the same family as a ball where people dance.
Watch out for: balad, balladd
Memory tip: Dancers at a ball once sang ballads as they went round, and the two words still share their double l.
Ballad in a sentence
Example 1: The old fisherman sang a ballad about a boat that sailed to the edge of the world.
Example 2: Our English textbook has a ballad about a brave girl who saved a ship.
Example 3: The band ended the concert with a slow ballad, and everyone switched on their phone torches.
Fun Fact
Many old English ballads were printed on single sheets called broadsides and sold for a penny in the streets.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our music teacher taught us an old Scottish ballid about a boatman who carried travellers across the river every morning.
a) boatman
b) music
c) travellers
d) ballid
Show answer
d) ballid. Both vowels in the word are a, so ballid is wrong: ballad.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. chorous 2. lirics 3. rythm 4. ballad
a) the words of a song
b) a story told in verse, often sung
c) a regular, repeated pattern of sound or beats
d) a part of a song repeated after each verse
Show answer
b) a story told in verse, often sung. Lyrics starts ly-, chorus ends -us and rhythm has an h after r, so ballad is the only correct one.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
The minstrel sang a long dlalab about a king who lost his crown.
a) ballot
b) salad
c) ballad
d) ballet
Show answer
c) ballad. Two l's, two a's and a d, with no t, s or e: ballad.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word ballad as used in the sentence:
Grandma sang us an old Rajasthani ballad about a camel trader and his clever daughter.
a) letter
b) speech
c) folk song
d) riddle
Show answer
c) folk song. A ballad like this is a traditional story song, which is a folk song; a riddle or a speech is not sung.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would most likely be the subject of a ballad?
a) the adventures of a brave sailor
b) the steps for solving a sum
c) a timetable for the school buses
d) a list of rules for a board game
Show answer
a) the adventures of a brave sailor
2. For hundreds of years, most folk ballads were passed on ____.
a) on carved stone tablets
b) only through printed books
c) from singer to singer by ear
d) through radio news bulletins
Show answer
c) from singer to singer by ear
