What does delta mean?
Word: Delta
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Delta means an area of flat land at the mouth of a river, roughly shaped like a triangle, built up from mud and sand that the river carries down.
How do you spell delta?
Syllables: del - ta
Tricky part: It ends with a single plain a. Because the last sound is quick and weak, children sometimes write er or add an h.
Watch out for: deltah, delter
Memory tip: Delta is also the name of a Greek letter, and Greek letter names such as alpha, beta and gamma end in a plain a too.
Delta in a sentence
Example 1: The Godavari forms a delta where it meets the Bay of Bengal.
Example 2: Many families in the delta travel by boat because there are so many waterways.
Example 3: On the map, Ms Rao traced the river until it spread out into a delta near the coast.
Fun Fact
The delta formed by the Ganga and the Brahmaputra is often called the largest river delta in the world, and the Sundarbans mangrove forest grows on part of it.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
d_l_a
a) a, t
b) e, d
c) e, t
d) i, t
Show answer
c) e, t. Say del-ta: the first part is del, and a t starts the second part.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
dellta
a) d
b) t
c) e
d) l
Show answer
d) l. The river word needs only one l.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) delta
b) estuery
c) plateu
d) glaicer
Show answer
a) delta. In glacier the i comes after the c; estuary needs ary, and plateau keeps its eau.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why do farmers often grow crops on a delta?
a) The land there is high and rocky.
b) There are no rivers close by.
c) It hardly ever rains near the sea.
d) The river leaves rich, soft soil there.
Show answer
d) The river leaves rich, soft soil there.
2. From a plane flying over a delta, you would see ____.
a) a river splitting into many smaller streams
b) a wide desert of yellow sand
c) snowy peaks and frozen lakes
d) one deep, narrow river between cliffs
Show answer
a) a river splitting into many smaller streams
