Meaning & use
grandchild
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The child of your son or daughter.
Grammar: Countable noun: a grandchild, two grandchildren.
Patterns
- someone's grandchild
- a grandchild of someone
She has three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
My grandchild lives in another city, so we video chat every week.
He became a grandchild's guardian after his daughter died.
nouncountable
A person who is the child of someone's child, used when the gender is unknown or not important.
Grammar: Gender-neutral: use it instead of grandson or granddaughter when you do not specify.
Patterns
- expecting a grandchild
- welcome a grandchild
They are expecting their first grandchild in June.
Every grandchild in the family gets a quilt when they turn five.
Word forms
| plural | grandchildren |
|---|
Common combinations
- first grandchild
- Her first grandchild was born last spring.
- great-grandchild
- She has five great-grandchildren.
- adopted grandchild
- They treat their adopted grandchild exactly like the others.
- see a grandchild
- We see our grandchildren every summer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grandkid
- Informal and warmer; common in speech, but avoid it in formal writing.
Word family
- grandparent noun
- The parent of your mother or father.
- grandson noun
- A male grandchild.
- granddaughter noun
- A female grandchild.
Commonly confused: grandchild or great-grandchild?
grandchild vs great-grandchild
A great-grandchild is the child of your grandchild, one generation further down.
Practice
My daughter just had a baby, so I now have my first ______.
Choose one answer.
"Grandchild" fits because the baby is the child of your daughter. "Grandparent" is the wrong direction, "great-grandchild" is too far down, and "grandchildren" is plural but the sentence says "my first" (one).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grandchild”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.