Meaning & use
co-parenting
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The act of raising a child together by parents who do not live together as a couple.
Grammar: Uncountable; used without 'a' or 'the' in general statements.
Patterns
- co-parenting of a child
- co-parenting with someone
- co-parenting arrangement
After their divorce, they agreed on a co-parenting plan that gave each of them equal time with their daughter.
Good co-parenting requires both parents to put the child's needs first.
The counselor helped them improve their co-parenting skills.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to or involving the sharing of parenting duties by separated parents.
Grammar: Used before a noun, as in 'co-parenting agreement'.
Patterns
- co-parenting plan
- co-parenting schedule
- co-parenting relationship
They worked out a co-parenting schedule that fit their work hours.
A co-parenting counselor can help reduce conflict between the parents.
The court approved their co-parenting agreement.
Common combinations
- co-parenting plan
- They wrote a detailed co-parenting plan before the school year started.
- co-parenting schedule
- The co-parenting schedule alternates weekends and holidays.
- successful co-parenting
- Successful co-parenting depends on clear communication.
- co-parenting counselor
- A co-parenting counselor can mediate disputes.
- co-parenting relationship
- Their co-parenting relationship improved after therapy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shared parenting
- A broader term that can include parents living together; co-parenting usually implies separate households.
- joint custody
- A legal term for the legal arrangement of sharing custody, while co-parenting focuses on the ongoing practice of raising the child together.
Word family
Commonly confused: co-parenting or parenting?
co-parenting vs parenting
Parenting is the general act of raising a child, while co-parenting specifically involves two or more people sharing that role, often when they are not together as a couple.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'co-parenting' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'co-parenting' to describe parents raising a child together while living apart. Option 1 uses it for a business, which is not the meaning. Option 2 uses it as a countable noun for a project, which is wrong. Option 3 has a grammatical error: it should be 'He is co-parenting' or 'He co-parents'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “co-parenting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.