What does identify mean?
Word: Identify
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Identify means to find out or say who or what someone or something is.
Synonyms: name, spot
How do you spell identify?
Syllables: i - den - ti - fy
Tricky part: Children often slip an extra n in at the start (indentify), because indent is a word they already know. Some also put a d where the t should be (idendify).
Watch out for: indentify, idendify, identifiy
Memory tip: Your ID card helps people identify you, and identify starts with the same two letters: I, D.
Identify in a sentence
Example 1: Can you identify this bird from its call?
Example 2: The teacher asked us to identify the nouns in the sentence.
Example 3: Our guide could identify every tree in the forest by its leaves.
Fun Fact
Even identical twins have different fingerprints, so a fingerprint can identify one person and no one else. That is why many phones use a fingerprint to identify their owner.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) identify
b) explane
c) seperate
d) discribe
Show answer
a) identify. Discribe, explane and seperate are classic slips for describe, explain and separate; identify is the one to tick.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
fyitnedi
a) identfiy
b) idenfity
c) identify
d) idnetify
Show answer
c) identify. Begin with id, as on an ID card, then fit in the rest of the letters.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
id_nt_fy
a) i, a
b) a, i
c) e, e
d) e, i
Show answer
d) e, i. The vowel after the d is e, as in dentist, and the one after the t is i.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: identify
a) ignore
b) confuse
c) forget
d) recognise
Show answer
d) recognise. To identify a bird is to recognise it and name it; ignore, forget and confuse do the opposite.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The teacher asked Dev to identify the odd one out in a list. What should he do?
a) copy the whole list neatly
b) pick out the word that does not belong
c) read each word aloud twice
d) draw a circle round every word
Show answer
b) pick out the word that does not belong
2. Nani tastes the sambar and says, 'There is tamarind in this.' What has she done?
a) named something she tasted
b) added more tamarind to it
c) asked how it was made
d) cooked a new dish for lunch
Show answer
a) named something she tasted
