What does margarine mean?
Word: Margarine
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Margarine means a soft yellow food that looks like butter, spread on bread or used in baking.
How do you spell margarine?
Syllables: mar - ga - rine
Tricky part: Pupils hear a soft j sound in the middle and write margerine or marjarine. The letters there are g and a.
Watch out for: margerine, marjarine, margarinne
Memory tip: Imagine a girl called Margaret spreading it on toast: her name gives you the a after the g.
Margarine in a sentence
Example 1: Mummy spread margarine on the toast before adding the jam.
Example 2: The cake recipe calls for a cup of soft margarine.
Example 3: We keep a tub of margarine on the top shelf of the fridge.
Fun Fact
Margarine was invented in France in 1869, after a prize was offered for a cheap food that could stand in for butter.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
margar_n_
a) e, e
b) i, e
c) i, a
d) y, e
Show answer
b) i, e. The long ee sound is spelt with an i, and a silent e closes the word.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
marrgarine
a) n
b) r
c) a
d) g
Show answer
b) r. A single r closes the opening part of the word.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The baker rubbed gamrerian into the flour until the mix looked like fine crumbs.
a) marmalade
b) macaroni
c) margarine
d) mandarin
Show answer
c) margarine. Of these four foods, only one can use up the g.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. margarine 2. mayonaise 3. chutney 4. marmalade
a) a butter-like spread
b) a spicy Indian relish of fruit or herbs
c) a thick, creamy salad sauce
d) a sweet orange jam
Show answer
c) a thick, creamy salad sauce. Mayonnaise has a double n.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is most margarine made from?
a) vegetable oils
b) fresh cream
c) wheat flour
d) egg whites
Show answer
a) vegetable oils
2. A recipe says "butter or margarine". Why can the cook pick either?
a) They are both made from wheat.
b) They both make the batter sour.
c) They do a similar job in baking.
d) They come from the same animal.
Show answer
c) They do a similar job in baking.
