What does birth mean?
Word: Birth
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Birth means the time when a baby or a young animal is born. It can also mean the start of something new.
Sounds like: berth (a bed on a train or ship)
How do you spell birth?
Syllables: birth
Tricky part: The vowel sound is spelt ir, as in bird and girl. Berth, with er, sounds the same but means a bed on a train.
Watch out for: burth, brith, birthe
Memory tip: A baby bird is born at its birth. Bird and birth both start with b-i-r.
Birth in a sentence
Example 1: The calf could stand up a few minutes after its birth.
Example 2: Grandpa still remembers the birth of his first grandchild.
Example 3: The zoo celebrated the birth of a baby panda.
Fun Fact
Birth reached English from byrth, a word in Old Norse, the language of the Viking settlers in England.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. biscuit 2. bird 3. birth
a) 321
b) 231
c) 312
d) 123
Show answer
b) 231. Bird and birth both start bir, so the fourth letter decides: d before t. Biscuit, with s, goes last.
Word Fusion
Add the correct option to the word in the sentence to make a new word:
Zoe cut a big chocolate cake on her birth____.
a) daye
b) dey
c) day
d) dai
Show answer
c) day. Birth and day together make birthday.
Sound Check
Which of the following words rhymes with the given word?
birth
a) north
b) moth
c) bath
d) worth
Show answer
d) worth. Worth has the same 'urth' sound as birth, though it is spelt with or.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) birth : births
b) family : families
c) baby : babys
d) child : children
Show answer
c) baby : babys. Baby ends in a consonant and y, so its plural is babies.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Our cat gave birth to four kittens. This means the cat...
a) had four babies
b) adopted four kittens
c) fed four kittens
d) found four kittens
Show answer
a) had four babies
2. A birth certificate tells you...
a) the marks you got in exams
b) the name of your school
c) the date and place you were born
d) the colour you like best
Show answer
c) the date and place you were born
