What does vista mean?
Word: Vista
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Vista means a wide and beautiful scene that you can see from one place, such as a stretch of hills or sea.
Synonyms: outlook
How do you spell vista?
Syllables: vis - ta
Tricky part: The word ends in a plain a, though pupils sometimes write vister or vistah.
Watch out for: vister, vistah
Memory tip: Picture someone gasping 'aah' at a mountain scene, then write that aah as one single a at the end.
Vista in a sentence
Example 1: The train window framed a vista of paddy fields and coconut palms.
Example 2: Grandma painted the vista from her balcony in the hills.
Example 3: As we turned the bend, a vista of snowy peaks opened up ahead of us.
Fun Fact
Vista came into English from Italian, where it is linked to the verb vedere, to see.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word vista as used in the sentence:
From the top of the tea estate, a green vista of rolling hills stretched for miles.
a) path
b) valley
c) view
d) slope
Show answer
c) view. A vista is what you see spread out in front of you, which is a view; a valley, a slope and a path are parts of the land itself.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
On the last morning of our school trip to Switzerland, we woke before dawn to see the sun rise over a vista of pine forests and misty vallies.
a) vista
b) vallies
c) dawn
d) Switzerland
Show answer
b) vallies. Valley simply adds s for the plural, because a vowel comes before its y: valleys.
Spell-o-Spell
Pick out the misspelt word in the list and choose its meaning.
1. telescope 2. compass 3. vissta 4. horizon
a) a long, attractive outlook across land or water
b) the line where the land or sea seems to meet the sky
c) an instrument that makes faraway things look nearer
d) an instrument with a needle that points north
Show answer
a) a long, attractive outlook across land or water. Horizon, telescope and compass are all correct; vista needs only one s.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
vistta
a) t
b) a
c) v
d) s
Show answer
a) t. Vista has just one t, between the s and the a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where would you most likely enjoy a wide vista?
a) at the top of a hill
b) inside a lift
c) in a corridor with no windows
d) under a staircase
Show answer
a) at the top of a hill
2. The new science lab opened up fresh vistas for the pupils. This means it ____.
a) moved their classes to the evening
b) made their old lab smaller
c) stopped them from doing experiments
d) gave them new things to explore and learn
Show answer
d) gave them new things to explore and learn
