Meaning & use
pennarello
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Meanings
nouncountableBritishtrademark
A felt-tip pen with a soft tip, used for writing, drawing, or coloring, especially by children.
Grammar: Countable: one pennarello, two pennarelli (the Italian plural is sometimes used in British English).
Patterns
- a box of pennarelli
- draw with a pennarello
The teacher handed out pennarelli so the children could color their maps.
I wrote the label with a red pennarello because the ink was waterproof.
She keeps a pack of pennarelli in her pencil case for art class.
nouncountableBritishtrademark
A marker pen, especially one with a broad or fine felt tip, used in offices and classrooms.
Grammar: Often used in the plural to mean a set: Buy some pennarelli for the meeting.
Patterns
- use a pennarello
- buy pennarelli
Use a black pennarello to write on the whiteboard.
The office ordered new pennarelli for the brainstorming session.
Word forms
| plural | pennarelli |
|---|---|
| plural (English) | pennarellos |
Common combinations
- a black pennarello
- Write your name in a black pennarello at the top of the page.
- a box of pennarelli
- She bought a box of pennarelli for her nephew's birthday.
- draw with a pennarello
- The students drew with a pennarello on the poster board.
- a pack of pennarelli
- There is a pack of pennarelli in the top drawer.
- felt-tip pennarello
- A felt-tip pennarello is easier for small hands to hold.
Synonyms and how they differ
- marker
- The general English word for this kind of pen, used in both British and American English.
- felt-tip pen
- A more formal British term for the same object, less common in everyday school talk.
- felt-tip
- A short British form that usually means the same thing but can also refer to a fine-tipped pen.
Word family
- pennarelloed adjective
- Informal, rare: written or drawn on with a pennarello.
Commonly confused: pennarello or biro? pennarello or pencil?
pennarello vs biro
A biro is a ballpoint pen with a metal ball tip, while a pennarello has a soft felt tip and is used mainly for coloring or marking.
pennarello vs pencil
A pencil writes with graphite and can be erased; a pennarello uses ink and usually cannot be erased.
Practice
Which sentence uses "pennarello" most naturally?
Choose one answer.
A pennarello is a felt-tip pen used for coloring or drawing, so option 1 fits. Option 0 is odd because felt-tip ink is not used for formal contracts; option 2 is wrong because pennarelli ink cannot be erased; option 3 is wrong because a printer uses ink cartridges, not pens.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pennarello”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.