Meaning & use
baby grand
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small grand piano, usually less than about 1.8 meters long, with the strings lying flat.
Grammar: Countable, so use 'a' or a plural: 'a baby grand', 'two baby grands'.
Patterns
- a baby grand
- play a baby grand
- a baby grand piano
Their living room is small, so they bought a baby grand instead of a full-size one.
She sat down at the baby grand and played a slow jazz piece.
The hotel bar has a black baby grand near the window.
nouncountablefigurative
This type of piano considered as a piece of furniture or as a symbol of wealth.
Grammar: Often used after 'a' when the piano is mentioned as an object in a room, not as an instrument being played.
Patterns
- a polished baby grand
- a baby grand in the corner
A polished baby grand took up half the room and nobody ever played it.
In the photos you can see a baby grand in the corner behind the sofa.
Word forms
| plural | baby grands |
|---|
Common combinations
- a baby grand piano
- He learned to play on an old baby grand piano.
- play the baby grand
- Every evening the pianist plays the baby grand in the lobby.
- a black baby grand
- A black baby grand stood on the small stage.
- tune a baby grand
- It costs a lot to tune a baby grand properly.
- sit at a baby grand
- She looked nervous sitting at the baby grand.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grand piano
- The general term for any flat-strung piano; a baby grand is simply the smallest common size.
- upright piano
- An upright has vertical strings and takes less floor space than a baby grand, but the sound is usually smaller.
- pianoforte
- An old-fashioned formal word for a piano of any kind; it is not used for the small size specifically.
Word family
- grand piano noun
- The larger type that a baby grand belongs to.
- grand noun
- Short form used in shops and ads, as in 'a Steinway grand'.
Commonly confused: baby grand or baby grand piano? baby grand or harpsichord?
baby grand vs baby grand piano
This is not a different thing — it is just the longer name for the same instrument.
baby grand vs harpsichord
A harpsichord looks similar but has plucked strings and a very different, older sound.
Practice
Choose the sentence that is grammatically correct.
Choose one answer.
The plural of the compound noun is made by adding -s to the last word: 'baby grands'. 'Baby grand' cannot stay unchanged after 'two', and 'babies grand' wrongly pluralizes the first word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “baby grand”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.