Basic Details
Word: Documentary
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A film or television programme that shows real events, people or places and gives facts about them.
Synonyms: factual film
How to Spell Documentary
Syllables: doc - u - men - ta - ry
Tricky part: After doc comes u, and there is only one m. The ending is ary, not ery or ory.
Watch out for: documentery, docummentary, documantary
Memory tip: A documentary is built from documents and facts, so spell document first and then add ary.
Usage Examples
Example 1: We watched a documentary about snow leopards in Ladakh.
Example 2: The class made a short documentary on how our town handles its garbage.
Example 3: Grandpa prefers documentaries about history to cartoons.
Fun Fact
The film sense of documentary is usually traced to 1926, when the Scottish filmmaker John Grierson used the word in a newspaper review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
document____
a) arey
b) ory
c) ary
d) ery
Show answer
c) ary. Document plus ary makes documentary.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) programe
b) anouncer
c) documentary
d) televison
Show answer
c) documentary. Television, announcer and programme each need one more letter; documentary has all of its own.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
ytnemcduroa
a) monetary
b) momentary
c) documentary
d) commentary
Show answer
c) documentary. Eleven letters with a d and a u: only documentary uses them.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our class watched a docummentary on how bees make honey and then wrote a short report.
a) watched
b) honey
c) report
d) docummentary
Show answer
d) docummentary. Document has only one m, and so does documentary.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A documentary shows ____.
a) song lyrics
b) only made-up stories
c) cartoon jokes
d) real events and facts
Show answer
d) real events and facts
2. Which would most likely be a documentary?
a) a cartoon about a talking cat
b) a film about how tea is grown in Assam
c) a fairy tale about a dragon
d) a comedy about a lost shoe
Show answer
b) a film about how tea is grown in Assam
