What does pergola mean?
Word: Pergola
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Pergola means a frame of posts and cross-beams in a garden, with climbing plants growing over it.
Synonyms: arbour
Word origin: Comes from Italian, from Latin pergula.
How do you spell pergola?
Syllables: per - go - la
Tricky part: The word ends on a soft uh sound, which students spell in several ways: pergoler and pergolah are common. It is a single a.
Watch out for: pergoler, pergolah
Memory tip: An arch begins with an a and a pergola ends with one: picture yourself walking out from under the last beam.
Pergola in a sentence
Example 1: Jasmine has climbed all over the pergola behind our school library.
Example 2: We ate lunch under the old pergola at the hill station.
Example 3: The gardener tied the young creepers to the posts of the new pergola.
Fun Fact
In northern Italy, many grapevines are still trained on high pergola frames, so that the bunches hang below a roof of leaves.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
lgaoerp 1234567
a) 7564213
b) 5762413
c) 7512463
d) 7562413
Show answer
d) 7562413. In this order the seven letters spell the name of the garden frame.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) courtyard
b) terrace
c) gazebo
d) purgola
Show answer
d) purgola. The first vowel in pergola is an e; the other three words are spelt correctly.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. A trellis is a kind of garden spade. 2. A pergola is built to hold up climbing plants. 3. A parapet is a low wall at the edge of a roof.
a) only 1 and 2 are true
b) all three are true
c) only 1 and 3 are true
d) only 2 and 3 are true
Show answer
d) only 2 and 3 are true. A trellis is a light frame for climbing plants, not a spade, so statement 1 is false.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option: Pergola comes from the Latin word pergula. What did pergula mean?
a) a narrow river
b) a stone bridge
c) a roof that juts out
d) a flat field
Show answer
c) a roof that juts out. A pergola still stretches overhead like a roof, only an open one.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. You stand under a pergola and look up. What are you most likely to see?
a) a row of bright electric lamps
b) a flat ceiling of white plaster
c) a sheet of clear glass roofing
d) leaves and beams against the sky
Show answer
d) leaves and beams against the sky
2. Why might a hotel build a pergola beside its swimming pool?
a) to keep the pool water clean
b) to warm the water in winter
c) to give guests some light shade
d) to store the towels at night
Show answer
c) to give guests some light shade
