Meaning & use
particle
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Meanings
nouncountable
A very small piece or amount of something, such as dust or sand.
Grammar: Often followed by of: a particle of dust.
Patterns
- a particle of something
A particle of dust floated in the beam of sunlight.
The filter traps every particle of smoke.
Not a particle of evidence supported his story.
nouncountablephysicstechnical
In physics, a tiny unit of matter or energy, such as an electron, proton or quark.
Grammar: Often used with a modifier: subatomic particle, charged particle.
Patterns
- a particle of something
Scientists use accelerators to smash particles together.
An electron is a charged particle that orbits the nucleus.
Light can behave like both a wave and a particle.
nouncountabletechnical
In grammar, a short word such as to, up or not that has a function but little meaning of its own, often joining a verb to form a phrasal verb.
Grammar: In give up, the word up is a particle.
Patterns
- adverb particle
- infinitive particle
In the phrase look after, after works as a particle.
Learners often confuse a particle with a preposition.
English uses the particle to before the base form of a verb.
Word forms
| plural | particles |
|---|
Common combinations
- subatomic particle
- A neutron is a subatomic particle.
- dust particle
- A single dust particle can seed a raindrop.
- particle accelerator
- The particle accelerator spans several kilometers.
- fine particles
- Fine particles in the air can irritate the lungs.
- adverbial particle
- Up is an adverbial particle in the verb pick up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speck
- Speck is an everyday word for a tiny spot, whereas particle is more scientific and neutral.
- grain
- Grain suggests something hard like sand or salt, while particle can be any tiny piece.
- fragment
- Fragment implies a piece broken off a larger whole, while particle can be naturally tiny.
- atom
- An atom is a specific unit of an element, whereas particle also covers parts of atoms.
Word family
- particulate noun
- a tiny solid or liquid particle in the air, often plural
- particular adjective
- specific, from the same root meaning small part
- particulate adjective
- made up of separate tiny particles
Commonly confused: particle or article? particle or participle?
particle vs article
An article is an item or a word like a, an, the, while a particle is a tiny piece or a function word like up.
particle vs participle
A participle is a verb form such as running or eaten, quite different from a particle.
Practice
In the verb phrase 'give up', the word 'up' is called a ___.
Choose one answer.
A particle is a short function word that joins a verb. A participle is a verb form, and articles and pronouns are different word classes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “particle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.