Basic Details
Word: Soul
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The part of a person that is believed to be their spirit and to hold their thoughts and feelings, separate from the body. It can also simply mean a person, as in not a soul.
Synonyms: spirit, person
Antonyms: body
Sounds like: sole (the underside of a foot or shoe; also, only one)
How to Spell Soul
Syllables: soul
Tricky part: The vowel sound is spelt ou, which is unusual for that sound. Students write sole (a different word) or invent soal.
Watch out for: soal, sowl, soull
Memory tip: Soul and shoulder share the same ou for the same sound. Picture a heavy load lifted off your shoulder and off your soul.
Idioms and Phrases
- heart and soul: with all your energy and feeling Example: "The team put their heart and soul into the school play."
- not a soul: nobody at all Example: "At six in the morning there was not a soul in the park."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Music, my grandmother says, is food for the soul.
Example 2: He is a kind old soul who feeds the street dogs every evening.
Example 3: The singer put her soul into the last line of the bhajan.
Fun Fact
Gandhi's title Mahatma comes from Sanskrit and means great soul, from maha, great, and atman, soul.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. spirtual 2. soul 3. consience 4. etternal
a) to do with the spirit rather than the body
b) the inner sense of what is right and wrong
c) lasting for ever
d) the spirit of a person, thought to live on after death
Show answer
d) the spirit of a person, thought to live on after death. Spiritual has lost an i, conscience has lost the c after its s and eternal has a stray t, so soul is the word to match.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word soul as it is used in the sentence:
Not a soul was stirring in the village when the milkman cycled past at five.
a) breeze
b) light
c) person
d) sound
Show answer
c) person. Here not a soul means not one person; the other words fit the sentence but change its sense.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
On the last night of the festival the old singer poured her whole soal into a slow song, and nobody in the crowded hall moved.
a) festival
b) crowded
c) soal
d) singer
Show answer
c) soal. Soul is written with o followed by u.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word sounds the same as soul but means the bottom of your foot?
a) sold
b) sole
c) solo
d) soil
Show answer
b) sole
2. If someone works heart and soul, they work ____.
a) in secret
b) without pay
c) with full effort
d) only at night
Show answer
c) with full effort
