Meaning & use
arrive
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To reach a place at the end of a trip.
Grammar: No object; use at for a small place or point and in for a city or country: arrive at the station, arrive in Paris.
Patterns
- arrive at somewhere
- arrive in somewhere
- arrive from somewhere
We arrived at the hotel just after midnight.
The train arrives in London at nine.
They arrived home exhausted.
verbintransitive
To come into existence or become available, as when a package or new thing appears.
Grammar: No object: the package arrived, spring arrived.
Patterns
- arrive on time
- arrive by post
Your parcel should arrive by Friday.
Spring arrived late this year.
The new phone arrived in stores today.
verbintransitive
To reach a conclusion or decision after thought or discussion.
Grammar: Always followed by at: arrive at a decision.
Patterns
- arrive at a decision
- arrive at a conclusion
The jury arrived at a verdict after two days.
We arrived at the same conclusion independently.
After long talks, they arrived at an agreement.
verbintransitiveinformal
To achieve success or fame after working for it.
Grammar: No object; the verb often appears in informal talk.
Patterns
- have arrived
With her first hit, the singer had truly arrived.
He felt he had arrived when the firm gave him an office.
After years of effort, the chef arrived.
Word forms
| third person singular | arrives |
|---|---|
| past tense | arrived |
| past participle | arrived |
| -ing form | arriving |
Common combinations
- arrive late
- Please do not arrive late for the interview.
- arrive on time
- The bus arrived on time for once.
- arrive at a decision
- The committee arrived at a decision quickly.
- arrive in town
- Our cousins arrive in town on Friday.
- arrive safely
- Text me when you arrive safely.
- arrive unannounced
- A neighbor arrived unannounced with a cake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reach
- Reach takes a direct object, as in reach the station, while arrive needs at or in.
- get to
- Get to is the everyday spoken form and sounds less formal than arrive.
- come
- Come is broader and depends on the speaker's position, while arrive highlights reaching the destination.
- turn up
- Turn up is informal and often suggests arriving unexpectedly or late.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: arrive or reach? arrive or come?
arrive vs reach
Do not say arrive the station. Say arrive at the station or reach the station.
arrive vs come
Come is used from the speaker's position, so we arrive at, not come at, a destination.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Arrive takes at for a specific place such as an airport. To, no preposition and of are wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “arrive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.