Meaning & use
assignment
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Meanings
nouncountable
A piece of work that a teacher or employer gives someone to complete.
Grammar: Often used with do, finish or hand in: hand in an assignment.
Patterns
- an assignment on something
- an assignment for someone
- hand in an assignment
The history assignment is due on Monday.
She spent the weekend finishing her writing assignment.
Our manager gave us a difficult assignment.
nouncountable
A job or position someone is sent to do, especially a temporary one away from their usual place.
Grammar: Often followed by to or in a place: an assignment in Tokyo.
Patterns
- an assignment to somewhere
- on assignment
The reporter was on assignment in Cairo.
He accepted a six-month assignment abroad.
Her first assignment as a nurse was in the emergency room.
noununcountablelegal
The act of giving someone a task, duty or share, or of formally passing a right or property to another person.
Grammar: Often used in law and business; followed by of: assignment of a lease.
Patterns
- the assignment of something to someone
The assignment of seats was done by lottery.
The contract allows assignment of the lease to a new tenant.
Assignment of duties took place at the start of the term.
Word forms
| plural | assignments |
|---|
Common combinations
- hand in an assignment
- Please hand in your assignment by noon.
- a homework assignment
- The homework assignment took two hours.
- on assignment
- The photographer is on assignment in Peru.
- complete an assignment
- Students must complete the assignment online.
- a written assignment
- A written assignment counts for half the grade.
Synonyms and how they differ
- task
- A task is any piece of work, whereas an assignment is specifically given by someone with authority.
- homework
- Homework is work done at home for school and is uncountable, unlike assignment.
- mission
- A mission suggests an important or dangerous errand, often with a goal.
- posting
- A posting is a job at a specific location, especially in the military or diplomacy.
Word family
- assign verb
- to give someone a task or role
- assignee noun
- a person given a right or task
- assignable adjective
- able to be assigned
- reassign verb
- to give a different task or position
Commonly confused: assignment or assignation?
assignment vs assignation
An assignation is a secret meeting, often between lovers, and is a rare word. It is not a school task.
Practice
The reporter is currently ___ in Brazil for the newspaper.
Choose one answer.
On assignment is the set phrase for working on a job away from base. The other prepositions do not form natural phrases.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assignment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.