Meaning & use
trial product
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small free or cheap sample of a product given to people so they can try it before buying.
Grammar: Countable: use a trial product or trial products, and it can take a plural verb.
Patterns
- give out trial products
- receive a trial product
- a trial product of something
The company handed out trial products at the station to get people interested.
Every customer who signed up received a trial product in the post.
Shops often use trial products to persuade shoppers to switch brands.
nouncountablebusiness
A new product made in small amounts so a company can test how well it works or sells.
Grammar: Countable and often used in business contexts about testing before a full launch.
Patterns
- test a trial product
- launch a trial product
- a trial product for something
Engineers built a trial product to see whether the design was strong enough.
The firm released a trial product in two cities before selling it nationwide.
Feedback on the trial product led to several changes in the final version.
Word forms
| plural | trial products |
|---|
Common combinations
- hand out trial products
- Volunteers handed out trial products outside the supermarket.
- a free trial product
- Students can request a free trial product through the website.
- test a trial product
- They asked fifty families to test the trial product at home.
- a trial product launch
- The trial product launch was limited to one region.
- receive a trial product
- Readers who filled in the survey received a trial product.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sample
- A sample is a small piece given to show what something is like, often food or cloth, while a trial product is usually a whole usable item tested before a full launch.
- prototype
- A prototype is an early working model used mainly for technical testing, whereas a trial product is often closer to the finished item and tested with real customers.
- demo
- A demo is a short demonstration or a cut-down version for showing features, not necessarily something a customer keeps and uses.
Word family
- trial noun
- A test of how good or suitable something is.
- product noun
- Something made or grown to be sold.
- production noun
- The process of making goods in large amounts.
Commonly confused: trial product or trail product?
trial product vs trail product
Trail is a path or track, so trail product would mean something for hiking; trial means a test.
Practice
Which sentence uses "trial product" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"A trial product to take home and try" uses the correct countable form and an infinitive of purpose. Option 2 wrongly uses "to taking", option 3 drops "to" and misplaces the plural, and option 4 uses "for take" instead of "to take".
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trial product”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.