Meaning & use
nursery school
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A school for very young children, usually from about three to five, where they play and learn before starting primary school.
Grammar: Countable: a nursery school, two nursery schools; often without an article after at: at nursery school.
Patterns
- go to nursery school
- at nursery school
- start nursery school
Our daughter starts nursery school in September.
The nursery school has a garden where the children play.
He made many friends at nursery school.
Word forms
| plural | nursery schools |
|---|
Common combinations
- go to nursery school
- She goes to nursery school three mornings a week.
- start nursery school
- He started nursery school last month.
- nursery school teacher
- The nursery school teacher reads a story every day.
- local nursery school
- We chose a local nursery school close to home.
- attend nursery school
- Children attend nursery school before starting primary school.
Synonyms and how they differ
- preschool
- Preschool is the usual American word and covers the same age group.
- kindergarten
- Kindergarten is for slightly older children in the US, and in some countries is the year before school.
- daycare
- Daycare focuses on looking after children while parents work, whereas nursery school emphasizes early education.
- playgroup
- Playgroup is more informal, usually a few hours with parents present.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: nursery school or nursing school?
nursery school vs nursing school
A nursing school trains nurses, while a nursery school is for young children.
Practice
A four-year-old child in Britain who plays and learns before primary school probably goes to ___.
Choose one answer.
Nursery school is for children aged about three to five. Nursing school trains nurses and does not fit a four-year-old.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nursery school”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.