pen

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A small handheld tool that writes or draws using ink.

   Grammar: Countable; use 'a pen' or 'pens'.

   Patterns

   • write with a pen
   • a pen and paper

   Could you lend me a pen to sign this form?

   She always carries a blue pen in her bag.

   The teacher wrote the homework on the board with a red pen.

2. 2nouncountable

   A small fenced area where farm animals are kept.

   Grammar: Countable; often used with animals like sheep, pigs, or chickens.

   Patterns

   • a pen of sheep
   • keep animals in a pen

   The farmer led the sheep into the pen for the night.

   There is a chicken pen behind the barn.

   The pigs escaped from their pen and ran into the road.

3. 3verbtransitiveformalliterary

   To write something, especially a letter, poem, or story.

   Grammar: Takes an object: pen a letter. Often used in formal or literary writing.

   Patterns

   • pen a letter
   • pen a note

   He penned a heartfelt letter to his old friend.

   The author penned several novels before she turned thirty.

   She penned a short note of thanks and left it on the table.

4. 4verbtransitive

   To shut an animal or person inside a small enclosed space.

   Grammar: Often used with 'up' or 'in': pen the sheep up.

   Patterns

   • pen something up
   • pen someone in

   They penned the cattle up before the storm arrived.

   The dogs were penned in a small yard behind the house.

   The crowd was penned in by metal barriers.

Word forms

Common combinations

pen and paper

In the old days, people wrote letters with pen and paper.

put pen to paper

She finally put pen to paper and wrote her first poem.

a ballpoint pen

A ballpoint pen is cheap and reliable.

a sheep pen

The sheep pen needs a new gate.

pen something up

The farmer penned the chickens up at dusk.

Synonyms and how they differ

ballpoint

A specific type of pen with a tiny ball at the tip; use it when you mean that kind, not any pen.

marker

A thick pen that makes broad, often permanent marks; not used for ordinary handwriting.

enclosure

A general word for any fenced area; a pen is specifically small and for animals.

Word family

penning noun

The act of writing something, especially in a formal or literary style.

Commonly confused: pen or pencil? pen or pin?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “pen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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