What does sauna mean?
Word: Sauna
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Sauna means a small, very hot room where people sit to sweat and relax, or a period of time spent in one.
How do you spell sauna?
Syllables: sau - na
Tricky part: Oxford gives two ways of saying the opening vowel, so pupils guess at o, aw or or. Either way, it is written au.
Watch out for: sawna, sorna, saona
Memory tip: However you say it, think of autumn: long cold autumns in Finland make this hot room welcome, and both words use the same vowel pair.
Sauna in a sentence
Example 1: Our hotel in Helsinki had a small sauna lined with pale wood.
Example 2: After the marathon, the runners took turns in the sauna at the sports club.
Example 3: Dad says ten minutes in the sauna is quite enough for him.
Fun Fact
Sauna is a Finnish word, one of the very few from that language in everyday English. Saunas are a big part of everyday life in Finland, where many homes have one.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
One word in the list is misspelt and three are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. pavilion 2. sauner 3. conservatory 4. gymnasium
a) a building beside a sports ground
b) a wood-lined room heated to make you perspire
c) a glass room built on to a house
d) a hall fitted out for physical exercise
Show answer
b) a wood-lined room heated to make you perspire. The second word has borrowed an er ending; it closes with a plain a.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
After the ski race, the Finnish team relaxed in a warm nuasa beside the frozen lake.
a) sauna
b) savanna
c) saucer
d) sonata
Show answer
a) sauna. Five letters, two of them a's, with no c, o, t or v: that settles it.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
saunna
a) a
b) u
c) n
d) s
Show answer
c) n. A single n joins the two syllables.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Although the tempreture outside had fallen well below zero, the visitors from Chennai spent a happy twenty minutes in the wooden sauna before walking back to their rooms.
a) sauna
b) tempreture
c) wooden
d) visitors
Show answer
b) tempreture. Written in full, this word has four syllables, with er straight after the p.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. On a sticky June day, Rohan says, 'This classroom is a sauna.' What does he mean?
a) The room is far too noisy for any work
b) The room has just been cleaned and aired
c) The room is badly lit and rather cold
d) The room is uncomfortably hot and airless
Show answer
d) The room is uncomfortably hot and airless
2. A hotel advertises a sauna beside its pool. What would a guest use it for?
a) washing clothes after a long trek
b) unwinding in hot air after a swim
c) storing bags during a short stay
d) cooling down on a summer day
Show answer
b) unwinding in hot air after a swim
