What does onion mean?
Word: Onion
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Onion means a round vegetable made of many layers, with a strong smell and taste, used a lot in cooking.
How do you spell onion?
Syllables: on - ion
Tricky part: It begins with o, even though the first sound is 'uh', as in up.
Watch out for: unyun, onyon
Memory tip: Like other, mother and brother, onion spells its 'uh' sound with an o.
Onion in a sentence
Example 1: We bought a kilo of onions from the vegetable market.
Example 2: Raita tastes great with a little chopped onion and cucumber.
Example 3: The farmer pulled the onions out of the soil and left them to dry in the sun.
Fun Fact
Cutting an onion breaks open its tiny cells and lets out a gas that makes your eyes water; chilling the onion first can help.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Which of the following words has the 'uh' sound as in onion?
a) sock
b) son
c) soap
d) soon
Show answer
b) son. Son is said 'sun'; sock, soap and soon each give their o a different sound.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form the name of a vegetable?
a) nniooe
b) tubert
c) nnioo
d) gruas
Show answer
c) nnioo. Gruas makes sugar and tubert makes butter, which are not vegetables, and nniooe has an extra e.
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
Dadi sliced an onnion and two ripe tomatoes for the salad.
a) salad
b) tomatoes
c) sliced
d) onnion
Show answer
d) onnion. The vegetable has a single n in each half of the word; sliced, tomatoes and salad are correct.
Spellacadabra
Choose the option in which the following letters will fit in the given order:
o, i, o
a) r_g_ _n
b) _n_ _n
c) m_ll_ _n
d) c_sh_ _n
Show answer
b) _n_ _n. Put o, i and o in the gaps and you get the vegetable; the others need e, u or a second i.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which part of an onion do you peel off before cooking?
a) the hard seeds
b) the green leaves
c) the long roots
d) the dry outer skin
Show answer
d) the dry outer skin
2. Which of these dishes usually has onion in it?
a) dal tadka
b) fruit custard
c) mango ice cream
d) rice kheer
Show answer
a) dal tadka
