Meaning & use
petting zoo
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A place where people, especially children, can touch and feed friendly farm animals.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a petting zoo' or 'petting zoos'.
Patterns
- at a petting zoo
- visit a petting zoo
- a petting zoo with goats and rabbits
The children loved feeding the goats at the petting zoo.
We spent the afternoon at a petting zoo where you can hold baby chicks.
The farm has a small petting zoo with ponies, rabbits, and ducks.
nouncountable
A similar attraction at a fair or event, often with a few tame animals for children to pet.
Grammar: Often used after 'a' or in the plural when talking about more than one.
Patterns
- set up a petting zoo
- a traveling petting zoo
The summer fair had a petting zoo with lambs and a calf.
They set up a petting zoo at the school festival.
Word forms
| plural | petting zoos |
|---|
Common combinations
- visit a petting zoo
- We plan to visit a petting zoo this weekend.
- at the petting zoo
- She works at the petting zoo on Saturdays.
- feeding the animals at a petting zoo
- Feeding the animals at a petting zoo is fun for kids.
- a petting zoo with goats
- The farm has a petting zoo with goats and sheep.
Synonyms and how they differ
- children's zoo
- A broader term for a zoo area designed for children, which may or may not allow touching animals.
- animal farm
- Usually a farm where children can see and sometimes touch animals, but not always called a petting zoo.
Commonly confused: petting zoo or zoo? petting zoo or pet shop?
petting zoo vs zoo
A zoo is a larger place where wild animals are kept in enclosures; you usually cannot touch them, unlike at a petting zoo.
petting zoo vs pet shop
A pet shop sells animals and supplies; a petting zoo is for interacting with animals, not buying them.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The infinitive of purpose 'to feed' correctly explains why they went. The other options use incorrect grammar: 'for feed' and 'for to feed' are not standard, and 'to feeding' is wrong after 'to' in this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “petting zoo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.