Meaning & use
regular customers
Last updated
Meanings
phraseplural
People who buy from or visit the same business repeatedly.
Grammar: Always plural; the singular form is 'regular customer', used for one person.
Patterns
- regular customers at a place
- someone's regular customers
- attract regular customers
- a regular customer of a business
The café gives free coffee to regular customers on Fridays.
Regular customers often know the staff by name.
We lost a lot of regular customers when the road was closed for repairs.
phrasepluralbusiness
Loyal users of a service who keep coming back over time.
Grammar: Used with plural verbs: 'Regular customers are...', never 'Regular customers is...'.
Patterns
- keep regular customers
- reward regular customers
- regular customers return
The gym rewards regular customers with a discount each year.
Online shops use email to bring regular customers back.
A small mistake can cost you regular customers.
Word forms
| singular | regular customer |
|---|
Common combinations
- regular customers at the shop
- The owner greets regular customers at the shop by their first names.
- loyal regular customers
- Loyal regular customers kept the little bookshop alive.
- attract regular customers
- Good service is the best way to attract regular customers.
- a regular customer of the bank
- She has been a regular customer of the bank for twenty years.
- regular customers come back
- Regular customers come back because the food is always fresh.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loyal customers
- Focuses on their lasting commitment rather than simply how often they visit.
- repeat customers
- Emphasizes buying more than once, which fits online sales better than a local café.
- patrons
- More formal and often used for arts venues or restaurants.
Opposites
Word family
- regular adjective
- Happening or appearing at even intervals; also used for a usual customer.
- regularly adverb
- At repeated, even intervals.
- regularity noun
- The quality of happening in a steady, repeated way.
Commonly confused: regular customers or usual customers?
regular customers vs usual customers
'Usual' means normal or typical, not frequent; 'regular customers' means people who come often.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Regular customers' is plural, so it takes a plural verb and cannot follow 'a'. Option 1 and 4 use singular verbs, and option 3 wrongly puts 'a' before a plural phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “regular customers”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.