What does perpetuate mean?
Word: Perpetuate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Perpetuate means to make something, often an unhelpful idea or situation, carry on for a long time.
How do you spell perpetuate?
Syllables: per - pet - u - ate
Tricky part: The t before the u sounds like ch, so pupils write what they hear and put ch in its place.
Watch out for: perpechuate, perpetchuate, perpechewate
Memory tip: Trust the t: when you hear ch in the middle of this word, write t and nothing more.
Perpetuate in a sentence
Example 1: Old textbooks can perpetuate mistakes long after scientists have corrected them.
Example 2: Silence only perpetuates a misunderstanding between friends.
Example 3: Grandma hopes her recipe book will perpetuate the family's way of cooking.
Fun Fact
It comes from the Latin perpetuus, 'continuing throughout'. The same source gives the perpetual calendar, a chart that works for any year you choose.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
perpetu_t_
a) i, e
b) a, a
c) a, e
d) e, e
Show answer
c) a, e. The word closes on a long ay sound, as in late.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
perrpetuate
a) r
b) t
c) p
d) u
Show answer
a) r. The opening is a plain per, with no doubled letter.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
Films that show every scientist as an odd loner only eearteuppt a silly idea.
a) penetrate
b) populate
c) permeate
d) perpetuate
Show answer
d) perpetuate. Permeate and penetrate have no u, and populate has no r.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word perpetuate as used in the sentence:
Repeating that old tale will only perpetuate the myth that bats are blind.
a) dispel
b) preserve
c) maintain
d) prolong
Show answer
a) dispel. To dispel a myth is to make it go away, while the other three keep it alive.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A play shows all grandmothers as forgetful. A critic says it perpetuates a stereotype. What is the critic's complaint?
a) the tickets are priced too high
b) the play is too long for children
c) the play keeps an unfair idea alive
d) the actors forget many of their lines
Show answer
c) the play keeps an unfair idea alive
2. Which action helps to perpetuate a family's storytelling tradition?
a) replacing story time with television
b) teaching the old tales to younger cousins
c) letting the tales fade from memory
d) selling the old story books to a dealer
Show answer
b) teaching the old tales to younger cousins
