Basic Details
Word: Observation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The act of watching something carefully to learn about it. It also means a remark about something you have noticed.
Synonyms: watching, study, examination, remark
Antonyms: inattention
How to Spell Observation
Syllables: ob - ser - va - tion
Tricky part: The s is said like a z but written s, and the middle is ser, not sur. The e of observe drops before ation.
Watch out for: obzervation, observasion, obsurvation
Memory tip: Observe has serve inside it: ob-serve. Drop that final e and add ation, and observation is done.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The doctor kept the injured player under observation for a night.
Example 2: Bird-watching sharpens your powers of observation.
Example 3: Write each observation in your lab notebook as soon as you make it.
Fun Fact
The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur, built for Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the 1720s and 1730s, is a set of giant stone instruments for observing the sun, moon and stars without a telescope.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Charles Darwin's careful obsurvation of birds and tortoises on the Galapagos Islands helped him explain how living things change over many generations.
a) generations
b) explain
c) obsurvation
d) tortoises
Show answer
c) obsurvation. Observe is spelt with ser, and observation keeps that ser.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
After the fall, the patient was kept under ovbiaesrnto in the ward overnight.
a) reservation
b) observatory
c) observation
d) conservation
Show answer
c) observation. Observatory needs a second r and a y, which the jumble does not have; patients are kept under observation.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word observation as it is used in the sentence:
Her observation that the classroom clock was ten minutes slow turned out to be correct.
a) mistake
b) complaint
c) remark
d) question
Show answer
c) remark. Here observation means something she said she had noticed, which is a remark.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An observation deck at the top of a tower is meant for ____.
a) viewing the scenery
b) landing helicopters
c) repairing the lifts
d) storing luggage
Show answer
a) viewing the scenery
2. In a science report, the observation section should contain ____.
a) a list of your classmates
b) what you saw or measured
c) the price of the apparatus
d) what you hoped would happen
Show answer
b) what you saw or measured
