tomato

tomato — noun

1. a soft, round fruit that turns red, orange, or yellow when it is ready to eat, w

1.名詞A1
釋義

a soft, round fruit that turns red, orange, or yellow when it is ready to eat, with juicy flesh and many very small seeds inside, most often used raw in salads or cooked in sauces, soups, and other dishes

例句

Noa sliced fresh tomatoes for the salad she was making for dinner.

collocation: slice + a + tomato

Adding chopped tomatoes to the soup gives it a deeper, richer taste.

gerund subject: adding + [ingredient] + to + [dish]

文法句型

a/an + tomato

tomato + noun (as modifier)

用法筆記

The plural form is 'tomatoes', not 'tomatos'. Botanically a fruit, but in cooking it is most often treated as a vegetable.

常見錯誤

❖ 'I bought two tomatos.' ✅ 'I bought two tomatoes.' — The plural of 'tomato' is 'tomatoes', with '-es', not '-s'.

❖ 'I don't like tomato.' (meaning the food in general) ✅ 'I don't like tomatoes.' — When talking about the food as a general category, use the plural form.

2. a garden plant with hairy stems and small yellow flowers that bears soft, round

2.名詞A2
釋義

a garden plant with hairy stems and small yellow flowers that bears soft, round fruit, grown in warm weather across many parts of the world

例句

Hao planted tomato seeds in early spring to get a good harvest.

collocation: plant + tomato + seeds

Tomato plants need at least six hours of sunlight each day to grow well.

文法句型

tomato plant(s)

grow + tomato + [noun]

用法筆記

Subject is usually 'tomato plant(s)' rather than 'tomato(s)' alone when referring to the living plant. Saying 'the tomato is a warm-weather crop' is also possible but much less common.

常見錯誤

❖ 'The tomato grows very fast.' (meaning the plant) ✅ 'The tomato plant grows very fast.' — Use 'tomato plant' to refer to the growing plant; 'tomato' alone usually means the fruit.