Meaning & use
marshy ground
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
soft, wet land that is like a marsh and difficult to walk on.
Grammar: No plural: 'marshy ground' is used as a mass noun.
Patterns
- marshy ground
- on marshy ground
- the marshy ground was…
The hikers struggled across the marshy ground.
After the rain, the marshy ground near the river became dangerous.
Farmers avoid planting crops on marshy ground.
Common combinations
- wet marshy ground
- The wet marshy ground made the path slippery.
- across marshy ground
- They built a wooden walkway across marshy ground.
- drain marshy ground
- The farmers drained the marshy ground to grow wheat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- boggy ground
- Very similar, but 'boggy' suggests deeper, softer mud that can trap you.
- swampy ground
- Suggests an area with standing water and trees, often larger than a marsh.
Opposites
Word family
- marsh noun
- An area of low, wet land.
- marshy adjective
- Wet and soft like a marsh.
Commonly confused: marshy ground or marshland?
marshy ground vs marshland
Marshland is the whole area of marsh; marshy ground describes the surface condition of the land.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'marshy ground' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Marshy ground' is uncountable and describes wet, soft land, so option 0 fits. Option 1 wrongly makes it plural and dry, option 2 treats it as a small object, and option 3 uses a plural verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “marshy ground”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.