Meaning & use
an advice column
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A regular newspaper or magazine feature where readers ask questions and get personal advice.
Grammar: Countable phrase: an advice column, two advice columns.
Patterns
- write an advice column
- read an advice column
- an advice column about something
She writes an advice column for a popular women's magazine.
I always read the advice column in the Sunday paper.
His problem was so funny that it appeared in an advice column.
Word forms
| plural | advice columns |
|---|
Common combinations
- write an advice column
- She has written an advice column for ten years.
- read an advice column
- He reads an advice column every morning for tips.
- an advice column about relationships
- The magazine runs an advice column about relationships.
Synonyms and how they differ
- agony column
- Agony column is a British, slightly old-fashioned term for the same thing, often about personal problems.
Word family
Commonly confused: an advice column or advise?
an advice column vs advise
Advise is a verb meaning 'to give advice'; advice is the noun. An advice column contains advice, not advises.
Practice
What is an advice column?
Choose one answer.
An advice column is a regular feature in a publication where readers ask questions and receive advice. The other options confuse it with a physical column or limit it to finance.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “an advice column”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.