Meaning & use
a piece of pie
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A serving or slice cut from a pie.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'two pieces of pie' or 'a piece of pie'.
Patterns
- a piece of pie
- another piece of pie
- a piece of apple pie
She cut a piece of pie for each guest.
Would you like a piece of pie with your coffee?
He ate a piece of pie after dinner.
Common combinations
- a piece of apple pie
- He ordered a piece of apple pie for dessert.
- cut a piece of pie
- Please cut a piece of pie for your grandmother.
- a warm piece of pie
- Nothing beats a warm piece of pie on a cold day.
- a piece of pie and ice cream
- The diner serves a piece of pie and ice cream as a special.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slice of pie
- This is the more common and neutral way to say it; 'a piece of pie' is also correct but slightly less frequent.
- serving of pie
- This sounds more formal and is used especially in menus or when talking about portions.
Word family
Commonly confused: a piece of pie or a piece of cake?
a piece of pie vs a piece of cake
This is a common idiom meaning something is very easy. 'A piece of pie' is not normally used with that meaning; use 'a piece of cake' for easy tasks.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'a piece of pie' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Only 'He ate a piece of pie after dinner' uses the phrase in its literal sense of a slice of pie. The others incorrectly use it to mean something easy; the idiom is 'a piece of cake'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a piece of pie”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.