What does barter mean?
Word: Barter
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Barter means to swap goods or services for other goods or services, without using money.
Synonyms: swap, trade
How do you spell barter?
Syllables: bar - ter
Tricky part: The word ends in er. In British speech the last syllable is a soft 'tuh', so pupils write bartar or barta.
Watch out for: bartar, barta
Memory tip: Picture a farmer who barters a pot of butter for a sack of rice: both of those b-words end in er.
Barter in a sentence
Example 1: In the old days, villagers would barter rice for cloth at the weekly market.
Example 2: Riya and her brother bartered comics for stickers all summer.
Example 3: Some islanders still barter fish for fruit with their neighbours.
Fun Fact
Cowrie shells were used as money in parts of India and Africa for hundreds of years, one of the early steps away from barter.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
At the tribal fair in Odisha, families still btrera honey and baskets for salt and lentils.
a) barter
b) border
c) barber
d) banter
Show answer
a) barter. Only barter uses two r's and a t.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word barter as used in the sentence:
Before money was invented, people would barter grain for tools and pots.
a) weigh
b) exchange
c) carry
d) borrow
Show answer
b) exchange. To barter is to exchange one thing for another.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
barrter
a) t
b) e
c) a
d) r
Show answer
d) r. A single r comes before the t in this word.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning.
1. merchent 2. currancy 3. bargin 4. barter
a) the money used in a country
b) to pay for goods with other goods
c) something bought for less than usual
d) a person who buys and sells goods
Show answer
b) to pay for goods with other goods. Currency ends in ency, merchant in ant, and bargain has ai before the n.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which deal does barter take place?
a) trading two mangoes for a notebook
b) buying a notebook for forty rupees
c) finding a notebook on the bus
d) borrowing a notebook from a friend
Show answer
a) trading two mangoes for a notebook
2. Why is barter hard in a big modern city?
a) goods cannot be carried far
b) each side must want the other's goods
c) shops do not allow any talking
d) there is nothing left to trade
Show answer
b) each side must want the other's goods
