What does shrimp mean?
Word: Shrimp
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Shrimp means a small sea creature with a thin shell, a long tail and many legs, which people often cook and eat.
How do you spell shrimp?
Syllables: shrimp
Tricky part: Three consonants come before the i: s, h and r. Children often hear only the s and r and write srimp.
Watch out for: srimp, shirmp
Memory tip: Begin with the shh you make to ask for quiet, and only then roll on to the r, just as in shred and shrink.
Shrimp in a sentence
Example 1: Amma cooked a spicy shrimp curry with coconut for Sunday lunch.
Example 2: In the rock pool we spotted a see-through shrimp darting under a stone.
Example 3: The fishermen at the jetty tipped the shrimp into big cane baskets.
Fun Fact
Oxford gives two plurals for this word: you can say two shrimp or two shrimps, and both are correct.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
mphirs 123456
a) 635412
b) 214536
c) 635421
d) 653412
Show answer
a) 635412. Taken in that order, the six letters spell the sea creature correctly.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
The seabird flew off with a tiny ___ in its beak.
a) shrink
b) shrimp
c) shrug
d) shrub
Show answer
b) shrimp. Only a small sea creature fits: a seabird would catch one while fishing.
Spell Spies
Choose the option with no spelling errors:
a) shrimp, lobbster, oyster, octopuss
b) shrimp, lobster, oystor, octapus
c) shrimp, lobster, oyster, octopus
d) shrimp, lobstar, oister, octopus
Show answer
c) shrimp, lobster, oyster, octopus. Every word in this list is right; the others slip on lobster, oyster or octopus.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
shri__
a) np
b) mb
c) mp
d) pm
Show answer
c) mp. You can hear both the m and the p at the end if you say the word slowly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A shrimp belongs to the same animal group as which of these?
a) a crab
b) a frog
c) a lizard
d) a sparrow
Show answer
a) a crab
2. What colour does a grey shrimp usually turn when it is cooked?
a) jet black
b) bright blue
c) pinkish orange
d) dark green
Show answer
c) pinkish orange
