What does conservatory mean?
Word: Conservatory
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Conservatory means a room built onto a house, with its walls and roof made of glass.
How do you spell conservatory?
Syllables: con - ser - va - to - ry
Tricky part: The ending is -ory; because it is said so quickly, pupils often write conservatery or conservatary.
Watch out for: conservatery, conservatary
Memory tip: Think of a story told in a sunny room: the end of story is the end of this word too.
Conservatory in a sentence
Example 1: Our neighbours in Shimla built a small conservatory to catch the winter sun.
Example 2: The cat sleeps all afternoon in the warm conservatory.
Example 3: Orchids bloom in the hotel conservatory all year round.
Fun Fact
In Victorian Britain, a conservatory full of ferns and palms became a fashionable sign of wealth.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Every winter my grandmother moves her tender ferns into the sunny consarvatory at the back of the house, and she waters them each morning before breakfast.
a) breakfast
b) grandmother
c) consarvatory
d) tender
Show answer
c) consarvatory. The vowel before the r is an e, not an a.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
consservatory
a) r
b) n
c) v
d) s
Show answer
d) s. The opening needs a single s after the n.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
We drank our tea in the otvnsoaercyr and watched the rain run down the glass.
a) conservatory
b) contemporary
c) commentary
d) laboratory
Show answer
a) conservatory. Only conservatory has a v in it, and the jumble has one too.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. conservatory 2. coridor 3. mezanine 4. vestibuel
a) a long passage with doors along it
b) a low extra floor between two main floors
c) a small entrance hall inside a building
d) a bright room with see-through sides and top
Show answer
d) a bright room with see-through sides and top. Mezzanine has a double z, vestibule ends in ule and corridor has a double r, so conservatory alone is correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why do many conservatories feel warm even on a cold, sunny day?
a) the roof is painted a dark colour
b) the glass lets sunshine in and traps the heat
c) the floor is always heated from below
d) the thick walls hold back every breeze
Show answer
b) the glass lets sunshine in and traps the heat
2. Which plant would a British gardener most likely keep in a conservatory through the winter?
a) a wild grass from the nearby hills
b) a hardy holly bush from the park
c) a tough oak tree from the local wood
d) a delicate lemon tree from a warm country
Show answer
d) a delicate lemon tree from a warm country
