Meaning & use
a tree surgeon
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person whose job is to cut, care for, and treat large trees, especially in gardens, parks, and streets.
Grammar: Countable, so use 'a' for one and add '-s' for more than one: call a tree surgeon / call two tree surgeons.
Patterns
- call a tree surgeon
- a tree surgeon removes something
- work as a tree surgeon
The old oak was leaning over the road, so we called a tree surgeon to make it safe.
A tree surgeon spent two days cutting back the branches above the power lines.
She trained as a tree surgeon after years of working in city parks.
Word forms
| plural | tree surgeons |
|---|
Common combinations
- call a tree surgeon
- If the branch is cracked, call a tree surgeon before it falls.
- hire a tree surgeon
- They hired a tree surgeon to remove the dead tree.
- a qualified tree surgeon
- Make sure you use a qualified tree surgeon for work this high.
- a tree surgeon removes a tree
- A tree surgeon removed the tree in under a day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- arborist
- This means the same job and is the usual word in American English; 'tree surgeon' is more common in British English and sounds a little more focused on cutting and treating damaged trees.
- lumberjack
- A lumberjack cuts down trees for wood in forests, while a tree surgeon works on trees that people want to keep alive.
Word family
- tree surgery noun
- The work or treatment a tree surgeon does.
Commonly confused: a tree surgeon or tree cutter?
a tree surgeon vs tree cutter
'Tree cutter' is not a standard job title in English; use 'tree surgeon' or 'arborist' instead.
Practice
The branches were dangerously close to the house, so we paid ___ to cut them back.
Choose one answer.
'A tree surgeon' is correct because we are talking about one person and this countable noun needs 'a'. 'Tree surgeon' alone needs a determiner, 'the tree surgery' means the work rather than the person, and 'tree surgeons' is plural, which does not match the singular idea here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a tree surgeon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.