Conductor means, first of all, the person who leads an orchestra or choir. It also means someone who checks tickets on a train or bus, and in physics, a material that carries heat or electricity: a good conductor of electricity. But a person who shows you the way in the mountains or around a museum is a guide, and the member of staff who looks after passengers on a long-distance train is a train attendant.
conductor: will you get the meaning right?
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an orchestra/a choir + conductor; the conductor of + orchestra; a train/bus + conductor; a good/poor + conductor of + heat/electricity
- The conductor stopped the rehearsal twice because the violins were playing too fast.
- The conductor checked our tickets just after the train left Edinburgh.
- Metal spoons get hot quickly because metal is a good conductor of heat.
What changed
First versionCopper is a good guide of electricity, so it is used in most cables.
RevisionCopper is a good conductor of electricity, so it is used in most cables.
In some languages, one word covers both a person who shows the way and a material that carries electricity, but English uses two different words. A material that carries electricity or heat is a conductor, while a person who leads you in the mountains or on a tour is a guide. Guide of electricity doesn't exist in English.
The verb conduct has nothing to do with tickets. Most often it means to carry out a study, survey or experiment: We conducted a survey of 300 customers. Leading an orchestra is also conduct: She conducts the city orchestra.
Your turn
Our ___ led us up the mountain path and told us the names of the plants along the way.
Show the answer
guide — A person who leads a group up a mountain and tells them about the plants is a guide. A conductor leads an orchestra or checks tickets on a train, and a material that carries electricity is also a conductor, but the word never means someone who takes people up a mountain. In some languages one word means both guide and conductor, which causes the confusion.
Describe a concert or a train journey you remember. Say where it was and what the conductor did.
At an open-air concert in Riga, the conductor turned to the audience and invited everyone to sing along.
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