a piece/sheet of paper (2025)

Hello everyone,
I am wondering what is the difference between "a

of paper" and "a

of paper". Do the two mean the same thing? If so, which is more often used?

Thanks in advance.

The only other context I can think of in which "leaf" is used to describe paper is in the description loose leaf paper, which refers to sheets of paper that are sold unbound (such as you might load into a printer, or a three-ring binder). I wouldn't be surprised if there were some technical meaning, known only to paper manufacturers.

Oh, one more: the warning near the end of old Rizla cigarette paper packages, "Only five leaves left," which inspired the Nick Drake album title Five Leaves Left.

la grive solitaire said:

A piece of paper is paper of any size or shape. A sheet of paper is paper used for writing or copying that is of regular dimensions, (here, for example, 8 1/2 x 11 inches or 11 x 14 inches). In spoken AE, however, you'll often hear, "Do you have a piece of paper?" (meaning a sheet of paper).

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Yes I agree with le grive.

Can we say just a paper? For example, in the sentence below, which is correct?

He slammed his fist down on the table. Some papers/pieces of paper fell off.

99bottles said:

Can we say just a paper? For example, in the sentence below, which is correct?

He slammed his fist down on the table. Some papers/pieces of paper fell off.

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"Papers" alone would mean "documents" of some kind. At least it would to me.

Aguas Claras said:

"Papers" alone would mean "documents" of some kind. At least it would to me.

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And what does piece of paper mean to you?

99bottles said:

And what does piece of paper mean to you?

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In the context of falling off the table, I think "piece of paper" could be just about anything: blank sheets, documents, receipts, etc. However, if you ask someone for a "piece of paper", you are asking for a blank sheet or, at least, something you can write on.

Tegs said:

It could be a full page, or a torn off bit from a larger page.

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Are you talking about paper or piece of paper?

"A paper" is a document. In college, I wrote a paper on War and Peace. The immigration officer would like to see your papers.

He slammed his fist down on the table. Some paper fell off.
He slammed his fist down on the table. Some pieces/sheets of paper fell off.
He knocked over the shredder's bin. Some pieces of paper fell out. ("Sheets" doesn't work here as it was shredded paper.)

As a native speaker, I see that this is surprisingly complicated! To write the 'rules' out in full would require an extensive essay.

Examples

I handed him a paper. (There was some writing or printing on the paper)

I handed him a sheet of paper. (We do not know whether there was anything on the paper but probably not)

I handed him a blank sheet of paper. (self-explanatory)

I handed him some paper.

I handed him a piece of paper. (The piece could be of any shape or size. It could be flat or folded)

I tore a leaf out of my exercise book and handed it to him. (We don't know whether the page was blank or not)

I handed him paper. (There was a choice about what type of material I could have handed him. I could have handed him cellophane or plastic sheet, but I chose paper)

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You can see that there are very subtle differences between all of these versions. Sadly, I don't think we can give an infallible set of rules - it is just a matter of copying the usage that you hear or read.

99bottles said:

Are you talking about paper or piece of paper?

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Piece of paper.

Chasint said:

I handed him a piece of paper. (The piece could be of any shape or size. It could be flat or folded)

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Does that wording say anything about whether the (piece of) paper is blank or not?

99bottles said:

Does that wording say anything about whether the (piece of) paper is blank or not?

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It is probably, but not necessarily, blank (or, at least, what's on it is not important). A non-blank piece of paper generally has another name like a letter, a note, a memo, a shopping list, a drawing, a sketch ...

99bottles said:

Does that wording say anything about whether the (piece of) paper is blank or not?

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Only context can make it certain. If there is nothing on the paper, then we usually describe it as "blank."

Myridon said:

A sheet of paper is more specific. It is a rectangular piece of paper and generally of one of a series of standard sizes - A4, 8 1/2 x 11, etc. A piece of paper can be any shape or size.

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Thank you Myridon, my interest was more on "the colour" part.

I would say: ''A piece/sheet of yellow paper'', although I don't think it matters too much in this case.

There are many threads on the order of adjectives.

Here is something from The Guardian:

''The rule is that multiple adjectives are always ranked accordingly: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.''

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/13/sentence-order-adjectives-rule-elements-of-eloquence-dictionary#:~:text=There's%20a%20rule.,inviolable%2C%20even%20in%20informal%20speech.