pub

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   A building where adults go to buy and drink beer and other alcohol, usually with a relaxed atmosphere, and where meals are often served too.

   Grammar: Takes a/the and has a plural: a pub, two pubs; people say 'in the pub' or 'at the pub'.

   Patterns

   • go to the pub
   • meet someone at the pub
   • a pub in somewhere

   We usually meet at the pub on the corner after work on Fridays.

   The village pub has a log fire and serves a good Sunday roast.

   My grandfather spent every Saturday evening in his local pub playing darts.

Word forms

Common combinations

local pub

Our local pub is only a five-minute walk from the house.

pub quiz

The pub quiz starts at eight on Tuesday nights.

pub lunch

We had a pub lunch of fish and chips by the river.

go to the pub

Shall we go to the pub once the match is over?

country pub

They stopped at a country pub for a drink on the way to the coast.

pub crawl

The students organized a pub crawl to celebrate the end of exams.

Synonyms and how they differ

bar

Bar is the usual word in American English and can be any drinking place, while pub suggests the traditional British or Irish community setting.

tavern

Tavern sounds old-fashioned or historical, whereas pub is the everyday modern word in Britain.

inn

An inn traditionally also offers rooms to sleep in, but a pub is mainly for drinking and eating.

Word family

publican noun

a person who owns or manages a pub

public house noun

the formal full name from which pub is shortened

pub-goer noun

a person who regularly visits pubs

Commonly confused: pub or club?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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