au pair

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A young person from another country who lives with a family, helps with the children, and gets food, a room, and some money.

   Grammar: Countable: say an au pair, two au pairs; the plural has no -s on 'pair'.

   Patterns

   • work as an au pair
   • an au pair for someone
   • an au pair from somewhere

   She spent a year as an au pair in Lyon and came back speaking fluent French.

   They hired an au pair to look after the twins while both parents work.

   Our au pair has every weekend free to travel.

2. 2noununcountable

   The arrangement in which a young person lives with a family abroad and helps with childcare in exchange for board and pocket money.

   Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural when it names the arrangement itself: go as au pair, do au pair work.

   Patterns

   • go as an au pair
   • do au pair work

   Au pair work is popular with students who want to improve their English.

   The agency arranges au pair placements in Britain and Ireland.

Word forms

Common combinations

work as an au pair

He worked as an au pair in Madrid for six months.

hire an au pair

They decided to hire an au pair after the second baby arrived.

an au pair agency

You should use a registered au pair agency to avoid problems.

live-in au pair

A live-in au pair costs less than full-time childcare.

au pair duties

Her au pair duties include school pick-ups and light cooking.

Synonyms and how they differ

nanny

A nanny is a paid professional childcare worker, whereas an au pair is usually young, foreign, and paid mostly in room and board.

childminder

A childminder looks after children in their own home for a fee and does not normally live with the family.

Word family

au pair girl noun

An old-fashioned term for a female au pair; now usually avoided as it sounds dated.

Commonly confused: au pair or laundry?

Practice

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