Meaning & use
teacher
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to help students learn, especially in a school.
Grammar: Countable: a teacher, two teachers.
Patterns
- a teacher of something
- teacher at a school
My math teacher gives clear explanations.
She became a teacher after finishing college.
The teachers held a meeting about the new schedule.
nouncountable
Anyone who shows others how to do something, in or outside school.
Grammar: Can be informal: life was his best teacher.
Patterns
- a teacher of something
My grandmother was my first teacher in the kitchen.
Failure can be a harsh teacher.
He was a patient teacher of the piano.
nouncountablereligion
A person who is respected as a guide or leader in learning or belief.
Grammar: Often religious or philosophical: a spiritual teacher.
Patterns
- a spiritual teacher
His followers called him a great spiritual teacher.
The teacher of the monastery lived simply.
She became a teacher of meditation.
Word forms
| plural | teachers |
|---|
Common combinations
- school teacher
- Her father is a school teacher in a small town.
- teacher training
- He is in teacher training this year.
- supply teacher
- A supply teacher covered the class.
- inspiring teacher
- An inspiring teacher changed her career.
- teacher's pet
- Nobody liked the teacher's pet.
- teacher of English
- She is a teacher of English at the local school.
Synonyms and how they differ
- instructor
- Instructor is common for practical skills like driving or swimming, while teacher is the wider school word.
- tutor
- Tutor usually means a person who teaches one student or a small group, often privately.
- professor
- Professor is a senior teaching rank in universities, narrower than teacher.
- educator
- Educator is more formal and can also cover people who design lessons, not just those in classrooms.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: teacher or tutor?
teacher vs tutor
A tutor mostly gives private or small-group lessons, whereas a teacher normally leads a whole class in school.
Practice
Sam's ______ praised him for his hard work on the science project.
Choose one answer.
A teacher is the person who praises work in school. Classmate and student are learners, and principle is a spelling confusion with principal.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “teacher”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.