Meaning & use
tea room
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Meanings
nouncountable
a small restaurant or shop where tea, coffee, cakes, and light meals are served
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a tea room' or 'two tea rooms'.
Patterns
- go to a tea room
- have tea in a tea room
We stopped at a little tea room in the village for a pot of tea and a scone.
The tea room was full of tourists enjoying afternoon tea.
She works in a tea room near the cathedral.
nouncountable
a room in a hotel or large building where tea and other drinks are served
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'the' when referring to a specific room.
Patterns
- the hotel tea room
- in the tea room
Guests can take tea in the hotel's elegant tea room.
The tea room on the second floor is open from 3 to 5 p.m.
Word forms
| plural | tea rooms |
|---|
Common combinations
- afternoon tea
- They serve a traditional afternoon tea in the tea room.
- a pot of tea
- We ordered a pot of tea for two at the tea room.
- tea room owner
- The tea room owner greeted us warmly.
- visit a tea room
- Tourists often visit a tea room when they come to this town.
Synonyms and how they differ
- café
- A café is more general and usually serves coffee and snacks, while a tea room traditionally focuses on tea and cakes.
- teahouse
- Teahouse is often used for Asian-style places serving tea, whereas tea room suggests a British-style establishment.
Commonly confused: tea room or tearoom?
tea room vs tearoom
In American English, 'tearoom' can also mean a public toilet, but this use is rare and old-fashioned. In the UK, 'tea room' almost always means a place for tea and cakes.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'tea room' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Tea room' is a place where you can have tea and light meals, so 'met her friend in a cozy tea room' is correct. The other options treat it as an object, a flower, or a drink, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tea room”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.