What does minnow mean?
Word: Minnow
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Minnow means a very small freshwater fish that usually swims about in large groups.
How do you spell minnow?
Syllables: min - now
Tricky part: There are two n in the middle. Minow, with one n, is the slip most pupils make.
Watch out for: minow, mennow
Memory tip: Minnows swim side by side in pairs and shoals, just as the two n stand side by side in the middle of the word.
Minnow in a sentence
Example 1: We watched a shoal of minnows dart about in the clear water below the bridge.
Example 2: My cousin caught a minnow in a jar, looked at it for a minute and let it go.
Example 3: Minnows flashed silver as they turned together in the village pond.
Fun Fact
The white cloud mountain minnow, a small fish often kept in home aquariums, comes from streams in the hills of southern China.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
From which option does a letter need to be removed to make a meaningful word?
a) corridor
b) apparatus
c) cinnamon
d) minnowe
Show answer
d) minnowe. Take the final e away and you have the small river fish; the other three are already correct.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
imnwon
a) a long, thin fish shaped like a snake
b) a little fish of rivers and lakes
c) a bird with a long beak that dives into water for fish
d) a young frog or toad that still has a tail
Show answer
b) a little fish of rivers and lakes. The letters make minnow, the small fish, not tadpole, kingfisher or eel.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ow' pronounced differently?
a) eyebrow
b) meadow
c) minnow
d) shallow
Show answer
a) eyebrow. Eyebrow ends with the sound in cow; the other three end with the sound in go.
Word Tally
You get 2 marks for each correctly spelt word in the list. How many marks do you get?
minnow, tadpol, salmon, jellyfish, mackrel, octopus
a) 8
b) 6
c) 4
d) 10
Show answer
a) 8. Tadpole and mackerel are misspelt; the other four words are right, so 4 x 2 = 8.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A cricket report calls one team "minnows". What does the writer mean?
a) the team plays only in the rainy season
b) the team has the tallest players
c) the team is small and not expected to win
d) the team has won the most trophies
Show answer
c) the team is small and not expected to win
2. Which place would suit a shoal of minnows best?
a) the sand of a desert
b) a snowy mountain peak
c) a hollow tree trunk
d) a clear, shallow stream
Show answer
d) a clear, shallow stream
