Meaning & use
country
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
An area of land with its own government and borders, such as France or Japan.
Grammar: Countable: one country, many countries.
Patterns
- in a country
- the country of something
Brazil is the largest country in South America.
She has traveled to over thirty countries.
Which country were you born in?
nounsingular
Land outside cities and towns, with fields, farms and open space.
Grammar: Used with the: the country. Compare the countryside.
Patterns
- in the country
- the open country
They moved to the country for peace and quiet.
We spent the weekend walking in the country.
nounsingular
The people who live in a nation, considered together.
Grammar: Takes a singular verb: the whole country was watching.
Patterns
- the whole country
The whole country celebrated the victory.
The speech was heard across the country.
noununcountablemusic
A style of popular American music from the rural South, often with guitar and storytelling lyrics.
Grammar: Short for country music.
Patterns
- country music
He grew up listening to country.
Word forms
| plural | countries |
|---|
Common combinations
- developing country
- The program helps developing countries.
- home country
- She misses her home country.
- across the country
- Snow fell across the country.
- cross-country
- He enjoys cross-country running.
- country house
- They bought an old country house.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nation
- Nation stresses a people sharing a culture or government, not just land.
- state
- State focuses on the government and political structure.
- countryside
- Countryside is only the rural sense, not a nation.
- land
- Land is more poetic and general.
Opposites
Word family
- countryside noun
- rural areas
- countryman noun
- someone from the same country
- countrywide adjective
- throughout a nation
Commonly confused: country or county?
country vs county
A county is a region within a country or state, not a nation.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'country' to mean rural land?
Choose one answer.
In the second sentence, country is the countryside. The others all mean a nation or its people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “country”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.