What does raven mean?
Word: Raven
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Raven means a large, glossy black bird of the crow family with a deep, croaking call.
How do you spell raven?
Syllables: ra - ven
Tricky part: The ending is -en, as in seven: ravon and ravan are common slips.
Watch out for: ravon, ravan
Memory tip: Raven ends the way oven ends: with e and n.
Raven in a sentence
Example 1: A raven perched on the school wall and croaked at the children.
Example 2: Ravens are bigger than the house crows we see in our cities.
Example 3: We spotted a pair of ravens circling over the cliffs near Leh.
Fun Fact
Ravens can copy many sounds, including car alarms and even human words, much as parrots do.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Puzzle
Match the words with their meanings:
1. raven 2. sparrow 3. heron A. a tall wading bird with long legs B. a big black bird with a heavy beak C. a small brown bird often seen near houses
a) 1-A, 2-B, 3-C
b) 1-C, 2-A, 3-B
c) 1-B, 2-C, 3-A
d) 1-C, 2-B, 3-A
Show answer
c) 1-B, 2-C, 3-A. The big black bird is the raven, the little brown one is the sparrow and the long-legged wader is the heron.
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
A glossy black raiven sat on the gate post and watched the farmer sow his seeds.
a) glossy, gate
b) only raiven
c) raiven, sow
d) only farmer
Show answer
b) only raiven. Raven has no i after the a; sow is the right word for planting seeds.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in this sentence?
A raven sat on the wall of the old fort and croked loudly at the tourists below.
a) 1
b) 2
c) 0
d) 3
Show answer
a) 1. Croked should be croaked, with oa; raven and tourists are correct.
Word Champ
In which option are the given words arranged in alphabetical order?
1. ravioli 2. ravine 3. raven 4. ravenous
a) 3241
b) 3421
c) 4321
d) 3412
Show answer
b) 3421. Raven comes before ravenous because it is shorter; after rav, e comes before i, and ravine comes before ravioli because n comes before o.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A raven sitting on a bare branch at midnight would most likely make a scene in a poem feel ____.
a) sweet and funny
b) bright and sunny
c) dark and mysterious
d) noisy and crowded
Show answer
c) dark and mysterious
2. Someone with raven hair has hair that is ____.
a) silver grey
b) very light
c) very dark
d) bright red
Show answer
c) very dark
