Meaning & use
church pew
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
One of the long wooden benches with a back that are lined up in rows inside a church for people to sit on.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a church pew' for one bench and 'church pews' for several.
Patterns
- a church pew in the front row
- sit in a church pew
- the church pews at the back
We arrived early and took a church pew near the front.
The old church pews were polished until the wood shone.
Each church pew had a hymn book and a small cushion on it.
nouncountable
A seat in a church that is reserved or traditionally used by one particular family or official.
Grammar: Countable; often used with a possessive such as 'the family's church pew'.
Patterns
- the family's church pew
- his church pew near the altar
The family has sat in the same church pew for four generations.
A small brass plate on the church pew showed whose seat it was.
Word forms
| plural | church pews |
|---|
Common combinations
- sit in a church pew
- The whole class sat in a church pew and waited quietly.
- a wooden church pew
- A wooden church pew creaked every time someone moved.
- the front church pew
- The choir always filled the front church pew.
- rows of church pews
- Rows of church pews stretched from the door to the altar.
- an empty church pew
- He chose an empty church pew at the side.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- pew noun
- A short word for the same long bench, used mainly inside churches.
Commonly confused: church pew or pulpit?
church pew vs pulpit
A pulpit is the raised stand where the priest or minister speaks; a church pew is where the people sit.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'church pew' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A church pew is a long bench for sitting in a church, so 'we sat in a church pew' fits. Option 0 describes the pulpit, where the speaker stands, and options 2 and 3 treat it as a small object or a vehicle, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “church pew”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.