Meaning & use
sneezes
Last updated
“sneezes” is a form of “sneeze”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
To suddenly blow air out of your nose and mouth in an uncontrolled way, often because something irritates your nose.
Grammar: Takes no object; you sneeze, not sneeze something. Often used with adverbs like 'loudly' or 'suddenly'.
Patterns
- sneeze loudly
- sneeze suddenly
- sneeze into something
He sneezes every time he walks past a cat.
She sneezed three times in a row during the meeting.
The dust made everyone sneeze.
nouncountable
An act or sound of sneezing.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a sneeze' or 'two sneezes'.
Patterns
- a loud sneeze
- a fit of sneezes
She let out a loud sneeze.
His sneezes echoed through the quiet room.
Word forms
| base form | sneeze |
|---|---|
| past tense | sneezed |
| past participle | sneezed |
| -ing form | sneezing |
| plural | sneezes |
Common combinations
- sneeze loudly
- He sneezed loudly during the exam.
- sneeze into a tissue
- Always sneeze into a tissue to avoid spreading germs.
- a sneeze guard
- The salad bar had a sneeze guard.
- sneeze at
- That amount of money is not to be sneezed at.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sniffle
- Sniffle means to breathe in noisily through a blocked nose, not a sudden explosive sneeze.
Word family
- sneezy adjective
- Feeling like you are going to sneeze.
Commonly confused: sneezes or sneeze?
sneezes vs sneeze
Sneeze is the base form; sneezes is used with he, she, or it, or as a plural noun.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
With 'she', the verb takes -s: 'sneezes'. The other options are grammatically wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sneezes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.