Meaning & use
a giraffe
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Meanings
nouncountable
a tall African animal with a very long neck, long legs, and a coat covered in brown patches, which eats leaves from trees.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a giraffe' for one, 'giraffes' for several.
Patterns
- a giraffe in the wild
- a giraffe's neck
- see a giraffe
We saw a giraffe eating leaves from the top of a tree at the zoo.
A giraffe can reach branches that other animals cannot get to.
The giraffe is the tallest land animal in the world.
nouncountable
the pattern or image of this animal, often used in children's clothing or as a decoration.
Grammar: Countable noun: you can say 'a giraffe' or 'giraffes' when talking about pictures or toys.
Patterns
- a toy giraffe
- a giraffe pattern
- a picture of a giraffe
She bought a soft toy giraffe for her baby nephew.
The wallpaper had a cute giraffe design on it.
His T-shirt had a cartoon giraffe on the front.
Word forms
| plural | giraffes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a herd of giraffes
- A herd of giraffes was standing near the water hole.
- a giraffe's long neck
- A giraffe's long neck helps it reach high branches.
- feed a giraffe
- Visitors can feed a giraffe at the zoo's special encounter.
- a baby giraffe
- The baby giraffe stayed close to its mother.
- a giraffe enclosure
- The new giraffe enclosure has more space for the animals to walk around.
- tall as a giraffe
- He's tall as a giraffe—he can reach the top shelf easily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- camelopard
- An old-fashioned word for a giraffe; it is rarely used today and sounds literary or archaic.
Word family
- giraffes noun
- The plural form of 'giraffe'.
Commonly confused: a giraffe or giraffe vs. okapi?
a giraffe vs giraffe vs. okapi
An okapi is a different African animal that also has stripes on its legs and a long neck, but it is much shorter and darker than a giraffe.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'a giraffe' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 is correct because 'a giraffe' is a singular countable noun phrase. Option 1 is missing the article 'a' before the singular noun. Option 2 repeats 'a giraffe' unnecessarily and sounds awkward. Option 3 uses 'a' with a plural noun, which is incorrect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a giraffe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.