Meaning & use
coach
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who trains a sports player or team, or who helps someone improve at a skill.
Grammar: Often comes before a name or a noun: Coach Lee; a voice coach.
Patterns
- coach of something
- a coach for someone
Our soccer coach makes us run laps before every game.
She hired a career coach to help her change jobs.
The coach praised the team for their defense.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To train or advise someone so they get better at a sport, subject or skill.
Grammar: Usually takes an object: coach the team. It can also stand alone: she coaches at a school.
Patterns
- coach someone in something
- coach someone to do something
He coaches the junior swimmers on weekends.
A tutor coached her through the exam.
My uncle coached me to speak calmly in interviews.
nouncountableBritish
A comfortable bus used for long trips and tours.
Grammar: Mainly British; American speakers usually say bus or tour bus.
Patterns
- travel by coach
- a coach trip
We took a coach from London to Edinburgh.
The school hired a coach for the field trip.
The coach stopped at a service station halfway.
noununcountableAmerican
The cheapest class of seats on a plane or train.
Grammar: No article: fly coach, not fly a coach.
Patterns
- fly coach
- a coach ticket
We flew coach to save money.
A coach seat on that route costs half as much.
He grumbled about the cramped legroom in coach.
Word forms
| plural | coaches |
|---|---|
| third person singular | coaches |
| past tense | coached |
| past participle | coached |
| -ing form | coaching |
Common combinations
- head coach
- The head coach announced the starting lineup.
- coach a team
- She has coached the girls' team for years.
- life coach
- He works as a life coach for busy executives.
- coach trip
- They booked a coach trip to the coast.
- fly coach
- We always fly coach on short flights.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trainer
- Trainer often implies physical fitness or animal training, while coach covers strategy and tactics too.
- mentor
- A mentor gives long-term personal guidance, usually informally, while a coach works on specific performance.
- tutor
- Tutor suggests teaching an academic subject, whereas coach is more about practice and improvement.
- instructor
- Instructor stresses teaching a skill in a class, while coach implies ongoing motivation and a team.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: coach or couch?
coach vs couch
A couch is a sofa. The spelling differs by one letter, but the meanings are unrelated.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'coach' to mean a type of seat?
Choose one answer.
Fly or sit in coach means the cheapest seats. The bus meaning is the Bristol sentence, and the other two are about trainers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.