What does mackerel mean?
Word: Mackerel
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Mackerel means a sea fish with a shiny blue-green back marked with dark stripes.
How do you spell mackerel?
Syllables: mack - er - el
Tricky part: The ending is the catch: it sounds like rul, and pupils write mackeral or squeeze it into mackrel. The vowel before the l is an e.
Watch out for: mackeral, mackrel, mackerell
Memory tip: It is a sea fish, so let the e of sea swim in its tail.
Mackerel in a sentence
Example 1: My aunt in Mangaluru fries mackerel with a thick red masala.
Example 2: In Goa, the mackerel is called bangda at the market.
Example 3: Ravi caught his very own mackerel on the boat trip.
Fun Fact
A sky covered in rows of small, rippled clouds is called a mackerel sky, because the pattern looks like the markings on the fish.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Every morning at the busy jetty in Malvan, the women sort the night catch into neat piles of sardines, prawns and macerel while the gulls circle noisily overhead.
a) prawns
b) noisily
c) macerel
d) sardines
Show answer
c) macerel. This fish needs a k after the c.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
mackerrel
a) l
b) k
c) r
d) e
Show answer
c) r. One r is all the word needs, between the two e letters.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to find the right word:
The old fisherman proudly held up a big silver reemlakc for the camera.
a) mackerel
b) sardine
c) herring
d) haddock
Show answer
a) mackerel. The m decides it, since none of the other three fish has one.
Spell-o-Spell
One of these words is spelt right. Pick the meaning of that word.
1. hallibut 2. anchovie 3. mackerel 4. salmun
a) a striped, blue-green fish of the open sea
b) a large flat sea fish eaten as food
c) a very small salty fish
d) a large pink-fleshed fish that swims upriver
Show answer
a) a striped, blue-green fish of the open sea. Salmon ends in on, anchovy ends in a y and halibut has one t.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Many mackerel have no swim bladder. What must they do to stay up in the water?
a) keep swimming
b) gulp air at the surface
c) rest on the rocks
d) stay close to larger fish
Show answer
a) keep swimming
2. Food writers often praise mackerel for its ____.
a) thin skin
b) mild smell
c) tender bones
d) healthy oils
Show answer
d) healthy oils
