A magazine is a publication with articles and photos about fashion, travel, sport or other topics, in print or online. It is not a place where you buy things: that is a shop. A small local shop in Britain is a corner shop, and a large shop selling food and household goods is a supermarket.
magazine: will you get the meaning right?
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read/buy + a magazine; a fashion/travel/science + magazine; an article in + a magazine; go to the shop (not the magazine)
- I found a great recipe for fish soup in a food magazine at the dentist's.
- Our company was featured in a business magazine last month, and we got lots of new clients.
- Before a long flight, I usually buy a couple of magazines at the airport.
What changed
First versionIs there a magazine near your office where I can buy some water?
RevisionIs there a shop near your office where I can buy some water?
In several languages a word that looks like magazine means “shop”. In English a magazine is something you read, so the question sounds like asking for a publication near the office where you can buy water. A place where you buy things is a shop; in American English it is a store, which is also correct.
Not every periodical is a magazine. A scientific or professional publication with articles by researchers is a journal: She published an article in a medical journal. A magazine is written for the general public and has photos, interviews and advertising.
Your turn
While I was waiting at the hairdresser's, I read a celebrity ___ full of photos.
Show the answer
magazine — A celebrity magazine full of photos is aimed at a general reader, so the answer is magazine. A journal is a scientific or professional publication, and it doesn't print celebrity news.
Write about a magazine you read now or used to read. Say what it is about and describe one article you remember.
I used to read a travel magazine every month, and I still remember an article about cycling across Portugal.
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