Meaning & use
native place
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableIndianregional
the town or area where you were born or grew up, especially when you or your family no longer live there.
Grammar: Countable and usually used with a possessive word: my native place, her native place.
Patterns
- someone's native place
- return to your native place
- leave your native place
Every summer he goes back to his native place in the hills.
She left her native place at eighteen to study in the city.
The family still owns a small house in their native place.
Word forms
| plural | native places |
|---|
Common combinations
- go back to your native place
- My parents go back to their native place for the festival every year.
- leave your native place
- Many young people leave their native place to find work.
- someone's native place
- His native place is a quiet village near the coast.
- visit your native place
- We visited our native place during the winter holidays.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hometown
- The usual word in American and British English; 'native place' sounds more formal or regional.
- birthplace
- This refers only to the exact place where someone was born, not where they grew up.
- home
- Broader and warmer; it can mean the house or country you feel you belong to, not just the town.
Commonly confused: native place or native land?
native place vs native land
This means the country someone was born in, not a town or village.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'native place' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Native place' means the town or area where someone was born or grew up, so returning there after years abroad fits. It does not mean a place you move to for work, a company, or a bird's cage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “native place”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.