Basic Details
Word: Inheritance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Money, land or things that pass to you from a relative, usually after they die. It also means features, like curly hair, that come to you from your parents.
Synonyms: legacy, heritage
How to Spell Inheritance
Syllables: in - her - i - tance
Tricky part: The ending is ance, not ence, and the middle keeps her-it from inherit. It begins with in, not en.
Watch out for: inheritence, inheretance, enheritance, inheritanse
Memory tip: Inherit + ance. Picture an aunt leaving you her house: the ending has an a for aunt, ance.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Nani's gold bangles came to my mother as an inheritance.
Example 2: Riya's curly hair is part of her inheritance from her father's side.
Example 3: The two brothers shared their inheritance equally and stayed good friends.
Fun Fact
In the 1850s and 1860s a monk named Gregor Mendel grew thousands of pea plants and worked out the first rules of how features pass from parents to offspring, the start of the science of genetics.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the suffix that completes the word:
inherit
a) ince
b) ence
c) ants
d) ance
Show answer
d) ance. Like acceptance and assistance, inherit takes ance.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The old haveli was the only enheritance my grandfather received from his father.
a) grandfather
b) enheritance
c) haveli
d) received
Show answer
b) enheritance. It starts with in, the same two letters as inherit and inside.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) legacy
b) heirloom
c) ancestor
d) inheretance
Show answer
d) inheretance. The middle is herit with an i after the r, just as in inherit.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following is an example of an inheritance?
a) a farm left to a son by his father
b) a gift bought at a shop
c) a monthly salary
d) a prize won in a quiz
Show answer
a) a farm left to a son by his father
2. In science, inheritance explains why children often ____.
a) learn to swim early
b) look like their parents
c) speak many languages
d) grow taller in summer
Show answer
b) look like their parents
