Basic Details
Word: Referring
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Mentioning or talking about someone or something; also sending someone to another person or place for help or information.
Synonyms: mentioning, alluding, pointing
How to Spell Referring
Syllables: re - fer - ring
Tricky part: Refer is stressed on its last part, fer, so the r doubles before ing: referring, referred. In reference the stress moves to the front and the r stays single.
Watch out for: refering, reffering, refferring
Memory tip: Stress on the end, double the end: re-FER becomes re-FER-ring, just as pre-FER becomes pre-FER-ring.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Were you referring to me or to my brother when you said someone was late?
Example 2: The doctor is referring my grandfather to an eye specialist in Chennai.
Example 3: Keep referring to the map so that we do not miss the turning.
Fun Fact
Refer comes from Latin referre, to carry back. When you refer to a book, you carry your question back to it; when a doctor refers a patient, the patient is carried on to someone else.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. occuring 2. prefered 3. referring 4. transfered
a) liked better than something else
b) moved from one place to another
c) mentioning or talking about something
d) happening
Show answer
c) mentioning or talking about something. Each of the other three skips a double letter it needs: occurring, preferred, transferred.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
r_f_rring
a) e, a
b) i, e
c) a, e
d) e, e
Show answer
d) e, e. Both vowels are e, exactly as in refer itself; nothing about the start changes when ing is added.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word referring as used in the sentence:
In his speech, the principal kept referring to the new science laboratory.
a) ignoring
b) mentioning
c) locking
d) building
Show answer
b) mentioning. To refer to something in a speech is to mention it; ignoring is close to the opposite.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A doctor referring a patient to a specialist is ____ the patient.
a) charging
b) blaming
c) refusing
d) sending
Show answer
d) sending
2. Which words mean almost the same as referring to in 'She kept referring to her notes'?
a) throwing away
b) hiding from
c) looking at
d) writing over
Show answer
c) looking at
