Meaning & use
ballad
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Meanings
nouncountable
A slow, emotional song, often about love or sadness.
Grammar: A ballad is a song you can count: one ballad, two ballads. It is not usually used for fast or cheerful songs.
Patterns
- a ballad about someone/something
- sing a ballad
- a power ballad
She sang a beautiful ballad about lost love.
The band slowed things down with a ballad near the end of the show.
He wrote the ballad for his wife on their anniversary.
nouncountableliterary
A poem that tells a story, often about love, death, or adventure, and was originally meant to be sung.
Grammar: Use ballad for old narrative poems, especially traditional ones. A poem that does not tell a story is not a ballad.
Patterns
- a traditional ballad
- a ballad about someone
- write a ballad
We studied an old ballad about a sailor who never returned home.
The ballad tells the story of a young woman who runs away to the city.
Many traditional ballads were passed down orally before anyone wrote them down.
Word forms
| plural | ballads |
|---|
Common combinations
- power ballad
- The rock band is famous for its power ballads.
- folk ballad
- This folk ballad has been sung in the region for centuries.
- sing a ballad
- She can sing a ballad like nobody else.
- a ballad about love
- He wrote a ballad about love and loss.
- traditional ballad
- The choir performed a traditional ballad from Scotland.
Synonyms and how they differ
- song
- Song is the general word for any piece of music with words; ballad is a specific type that is slow and emotional.
- poem
- Poem is any piece of writing in verse; a ballad is a poem that tells a story and often has a simple rhythm.
- lay
- Lay is an old word for a short narrative poem or song, but it is much rarer and more literary than ballad.
Word family
- balladeer noun
- A singer or writer of ballads.
- balladic adjective
- Having the style or quality of a ballad.
Commonly confused: ballad or ballad? ballad or ballade?
ballad vs ballad
Do not confuse ballad with ballet, which is a type of dance.
ballad vs ballade
A ballade is a fixed poetic form with repeating lines, not a general narrative song.
Practice
Which sentence uses ballad correctly?
Choose one answer.
A ballad is a slow, emotional song or a narrative poem, so 'wrote a ballad about a sailor' fits. 'Balladed' is not a verb, and a ballad is not defined by being fast or short.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ballad”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.