Basic Details
Word: Neighbor
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person who lives next door to you or near you. It can also mean a country or place next to another.
Antonyms: stranger
Word origin: Comes from Old English neahgebur, near dweller, from neah, near, and gebur, a farmer or dweller.
How to Spell Neighbor
Syllables: neigh - bour
Tricky part: Neighbour is the spelling to learn, split as neigh-bour: the ay sound is spelt eigh, with a silent g and h as in eight and weigh, and the word ends in our, as in harbour and colour. Neighbor, ending in or, is the American spelling.
Watch out for: nieghbour, neighbur, neihbour
Memory tip: A horse says neigh, and the horse next door is our neighbour's: neigh, then b, then our.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Our neighbour waters the plants when we go to our village.
Example 2: Nepal is India's neighbour to the north.
Example 3: My neighbour and I walk to the bus stop together every morning.
Fun Fact
The horse's neigh is said the same way as the start of neighbour, but the two are not related: neigh simply copies the sound a horse makes.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. neighbour 2. comunity 3. societey 4. vilage
a) all the people who live in one area
b) people living together in an organised group
c) a person who lives next door or near you
d) a small group of houses in the countryside
Show answer
c) a person who lives next door or near you. Neighbour is the one spelt correctly; the others should be community, village and society.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
n_ _ghb_ur
a) i, e, o
b) a, i, o
c) e, i, o
d) e, i, a
Show answer
c) e, i, o. The ay sound is eigh, as in eight, and the ending is our.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The hubonierg in the next flat lent us a ladder to clean the water tank on the roof.
a) neighing
b) neighbour
c) nightjar
d) harbour
Show answer
b) neighbour. Only neighbour uses all nine letters, eigh and our included; harbour would need an a and a second r.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which country is a neighbour of India?
a) Brazil
b) Bhutan
c) Egypt
d) Japan
Show answer
b) Bhutan
2. If two villages are neighbouring villages, they are ____.
a) on opposite coasts
b) in different countries
c) at war with each other
d) close beside each other
Show answer
d) close beside each other
