Meaning & use
shtetls
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“shtetls” is a form of “shtetl”.
Meaning
nounplural
Small towns in Eastern Europe where Jews lived as a close community before the mid-20th century.
Grammar: This is the plural form; the singular is 'shtetl', and it takes plural verbs: the shtetls were small.
Patterns
- the shtetls of Poland
- a network of shtetls
- life in the shtetls
Her grandparents grew up in one of the shtetls of eastern Poland.
The museum has photographs of daily life in the shtetls before the war.
Many of these shtetls disappeared when their Jewish residents were forced to leave.
Word forms
| singular | shtetl |
|---|
Common combinations
- a Jewish shtetl
- He wrote a novel set in a Jewish shtetl in the 1890s.
- shtetl life
- The exhibition recreates shtetl life with furniture and clothing from the period.
- the shtetls of Eastern Europe
- Historians study the shtetls of Eastern Europe as tight-knit communities.
- grow up in a shtetl
- She grew up in a shtetl where everyone spoke Yiddish.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- shtetl noun
- The singular form: a small Eastern European Jewish town.
Commonly confused: shtetls or ghetto? shtetls or settlement?
shtetls vs ghetto
A ghetto was a restricted area where Jews were forced to live; a shtetl was a town where Jews formed the majority by choice and history, though both words describe separated Jewish communities.
shtetls vs settlement
A neutral word for any place where people settle; 'shtetl' refers only to the specific Eastern European Jewish town.
Practice
Which sentence uses the plural 'shtetls' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Shtetls' is plural, so it takes the plural verb 'were' and no article. Option 1 uses a singular verb, option 3 puts a singular article before a plural noun, and option 4 uses a singular noun with a plural verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shtetls”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.