Meaning & use
a garden gnome
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A small decorative statue of a little bearded man in a pointed hat, placed in a garden.
Grammar: Countable: a garden gnome, two garden gnomes. The main noun is 'gnome', and 'garden' describes what it is for.
Patterns
- a garden gnome
- put a garden gnome somewhere
- a collection of garden gnomes
She bought a garden gnome for her flowerbed.
The neighbors have a whole row of garden gnomes along the fence.
Someone stole the garden gnome from our front yard.
Word forms
| plural | garden gnomes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a garden gnome
- A garden gnome stood next to the roses.
- a collection of garden gnomes
- He keeps a collection of garden gnomes in the shed.
- a plastic garden gnome
- They bought a cheap plastic garden gnome.
- garden gnome statue
- The garden gnome statue was painted bright red.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gnome
- The short form; it usually means the same garden ornament, but in stories it can also mean a small magical creature.
- lawn ornament
- A general term for any decoration on a lawn; a garden gnome is one specific kind.
Word family
- gnome noun
- A small mythical creature, or a garden statue of one.
Commonly confused: a garden gnome or gnome?
a garden gnome vs gnome
In fantasy, a gnome is a tiny magical being; a garden gnome is the statue that looks like one.
Practice
They put a small statue of a bearded man in a pointed hat on the lawn. It is a ___.
Choose one answer.
The singular countable noun with 'a' is 'garden gnome'. 'Garden gnomes' is plural and would need no 'a', 'gnome's' is possessive, and 'gnomic' is an adjective meaning mysterious or cryptic.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a garden gnome”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.