What does indent mean?
Word: Indent
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Indent means to start a line of writing a little further in from the margin than the other lines. As a noun, an indent is that space; in British offices it is also a formal written request for supplies.
How do you spell indent?
Syllables: in - dent
Tricky part: The vowel of the second part is e. Students who hear a weak vowel write indant or indint.
Watch out for: indant, indint, inddent
Memory tip: Indent rhymes with tent and went, and all three keep the same e.
Indent in a sentence
Example 1: Ms Pillai showed us how to indent a long quotation in a formal letter.
Example 2: The poem's second and fourth lines are indented a little further than the others.
Example 3: Papa forgot to indent the first line, so the two paragraphs ran together.
Fun Fact
Indent comes from the Latin dens, a tooth. Old agreements were written twice on one sheet and cut apart along a zigzag, tooth-like line, so the two copies could later be matched.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. collumn 2. punctuasion 3. hedding 4. indent
a) a narrow block of text running down a page
b) to begin a line a little way in from the edge
c) marks such as commas and full stops
d) the title at the top of a page or section
Show answer
b) to begin a line a little way in from the edge. Punctuasion has an s where a t belongs, hedding has lost a vowel and doubled the d, and collumn has one l too many.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Lucas forgot to endent the opening line of each new section, so his essay looked like one long block.
a) forgot
b) essay
c) endent
d) opening
Show answer
c) endent. The word begins with in, which suits its meaning: the line is pushed in from the margin.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word indent as used in the sentence:
The hostel warden sent an indent to the head office for fifty new mattresses before the winter term.
a) complaint
b) receipt
c) order
d) bill
Show answer
c) order. Here an indent is a formal request for goods, which is an order; a bill and a receipt come after the goods are supplied.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In a word processor, which key is usually pressed to indent a line?
a) Shift
b) Tab
c) Delete
d) Esc
Show answer
b) Tab
2. Why do writers indent the first line of a paragraph?
a) to make the writing look bigger
b) to show where a new paragraph begins
c) to mark a spelling mistake
d) to fit more words on a page
Show answer
b) to show where a new paragraph begins
