Meaning & use
candy
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableAmerican
A sweet food made mainly from sugar, often eaten as a treat or snack.
Grammar: Countable when referring to individual pieces: a candy; uncountable when referring to the substance: too much candy.
Patterns
- a piece of candy
- candy bar
- too much candy
The children were given candy as a reward.
She bought a bag of candy for the party.
Don't eat too much candy before dinner.
nouncountableAmerican
A single piece of such sweet food.
Grammar: Countable: one candy, two candies.
Patterns
- a candy
- candies
He took a candy from the bowl.
The jar was full of colorful candies.
Word forms
| plural | candies |
|---|
Common combinations
- candy bar
- He ate a candy bar for a quick snack.
- cotton candy
- The kids loved the pink cotton candy at the fair.
- hard candy
- She sucked on a hard candy to soothe her throat.
- candy store
- We stopped at a candy store to buy treats.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sweet
- British English uses 'sweet' for the same item; 'candy' is the American term.
- confection
- A formal word for a fancy candy or sweet.
Word family
- candied adjective
- Preserved or coated with sugar, as in candied fruit.
Practice
In American English, which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
'Candy' is countable in American English when referring to a piece, so 'a candy' is correct. 'Sweet' is British, 'a candies' is ungrammatical, and 'a piece of sweets' mixes countable and uncountable forms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “candy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.