Meaning & use
fern
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A green plant with feathery leaves that has no flowers and reproduces by spores.
Grammar: Countable: one fern, two ferns. The leaves are called fronds.
Patterns
- a fern
- ferns grow
- a clump of ferns
Ferns grew thickly along the forest path.
She keeps a small fern in a pot on her desk.
The underside of the fern's fronds was covered with tiny spores.
Word forms
| plural | ferns |
|---|
Common combinations
- tree fern
- Tree ferns can grow several meters tall in tropical forests.
- fern frond
- Each fern frond unfurls slowly in spring.
- a clump of ferns
- A clump of ferns grew beside the waterfall.
- fern spores
- Fern spores are released from the underside of the leaves.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bracken
- A type of large fern that often grows on hillsides; 'fern' is the general word for the whole group.
Word family
- ferny adjective
- Covered with or resembling ferns.
- fernery noun
- A place where ferns are grown.
Commonly confused: fern or fern?
fern vs fern
Not to be confused with 'fawn' (a young deer) or 'fern' vs 'fir' (a type of tree).
Practice
Which sentence uses 'fern' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 1 is correct: ferns reproduce by spores. Option 0 is wrong because ferns do not produce seeds or cones. Option 2 is wrong because ferns are flowerless. Option 3 is wrong because ferns are plants, not animals.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fern”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.