Meaning & use
the cattle are lowing
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseliterary
The cows are making their long, deep sound; a poetic way of saying cattle are mooing.
Grammar: A complete clause: 'cattle' is a plural noun and takes a plural verb, so it is 'are', never 'is'.
Patterns
- the cattle are lowing
- cattle lowing in the field
In the carol, the cattle are lowing while the baby wakes.
We stood by the fence at dusk, and the cattle were lowing softly in the field.
The old poem describes a stable where the cattle are lowing through the night.
verbintransitiveliteraryold-fashioned
(Of cattle) to make a deep, long sound, especially when calling or waiting to be fed.
Grammar: No object; the subject is an animal, usually a cow or ox. The -ing form 'lowing' is the one most learners meet, in the carol line.
Patterns
- cattle low
- a cow lows
- lowing in the distance
Outside the barn a cow lowed, and then everything was quiet again.
You could hear the herd lowing as the farmer carried the feed across the yard.
Word forms
| third person singular | lows |
|---|---|
| past tense | lowed |
| past participle | lowed |
| -ing form | lowing |
Common combinations
- the cattle are lowing
- The cattle are lowing in the carol's opening verse.
- cattle lowing in the field
- We woke to the sound of cattle lowing in the field next door.
- a cow lows softly
- In the poem a cow lows softly behind the stable.
- hear the cattle lowing
- From the farmhouse you can hear the cattle lowing at milking time.
- the lowing of cattle
- The lowing of cattle drifted across the valley at sunset.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- low verb
- The base verb meaning to make this deep cattle sound.
- lowing noun
- The act or sound of cattle making this noise, as in 'the lowing of cattle'.
Commonly confused: the cattle are lowing or lowing?
the cattle are lowing vs lowing
Do not confuse this with 'low' meaning not high, or with 'lowing' as the -ing form of 'lower' (to move something down), which is spelled 'lowering'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'lowing' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Lowing' is the -ing form of 'low', the verb for the deep sound cattle make, so 'are lowing' fits. Option 1 uses 'lowering', which means moving something down; option 2 wrongly gives 'low' an object; option 3 uses 'low' as an adjective and loses the ongoing action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “the cattle are lowing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.