Meaning & use
grandmother
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The mother of your father or mother.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a grandmother', 'the grandmother', or 'grandmothers' for more than one.
Patterns
- someone's grandmother
- a grandmother to someone
My grandmother lives in a small village.
She became a grandmother last year.
His grandmother taught him how to cook.
nouncountable
An elderly woman, especially one who is kind or motherly.
Grammar: Used as a respectful or affectionate term for an older woman, even if not related.
Patterns
- a little grandmother
- the grandmother of the family
The grandmother of the family always hosts the holidays.
A kind grandmother helped the lost child.
Word forms
| plural | grandmothers |
|---|
Common combinations
- maternal grandmother
- My maternal grandmother is from Italy.
- paternal grandmother
- His paternal grandmother lives in Canada.
- great-grandmother
- My great-grandmother told stories about the war.
- grandmother's house
- We spent the weekend at my grandmother's house.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- grandma noun
- Informal word for grandmother.
- grandparent noun
- A parent of your mother or father.
- grandchild noun
- A child of your son or daughter.
Commonly confused: grandmother or grandma?
grandmother vs grandma
Grandmother is formal and neutral; grandma is informal and used mostly in speech.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The subject 'My grandmother' is third-person singular, so the verb takes -s: 'lives'. Option A repeats the subject, C uses the base form, and D lacks an auxiliary.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grandmother”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.