Meaning & use
biro pen
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableBritishtrademarkinformal
A cheap pen with a small ball at the tip that rolls ink onto the paper.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a biro pen' or 'biro pens'. In British English people often just say 'a biro'.
Patterns
- write with a biro pen
- a blue biro pen
Could you lend me a biro pen? Mine has run out of ink.
She signed the form with a cheap biro pen.
There are some biro pens in the top drawer.
Word forms
| plural | biro pens |
|---|
Common combinations
- write in biro
- Please write in biro, not in pencil.
- a blue biro pen
- He always marks homework with a blue biro pen.
- a biro pen runs out
- My biro pen ran out halfway through the exam.
- sign something in biro
- The contract must be signed in biro.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ballpoint pen
- The standard, neutral term used in both British and American English; 'biro pen' is the informal British brand-based word.
- ballpoint
- A shorter neutral form of 'ballpoint pen'; it sounds more formal than 'biro'.
Word family
- biro noun
- The usual short British form, meaning the same kind of pen.
Commonly confused: biro pen or fountain pen?
biro pen vs fountain pen
A fountain pen uses liquid ink from a refillable reservoir, while a biro pen uses a small rolling ball and a replaceable cartridge.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'biro pen' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'With a biro pen' shows the tool used for writing. The others break the grammar: 'biro pen ink' adds an unnecessary noun, 'biro penned' is not a verb, and 'on a biro pen' uses the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “biro pen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.