Meaning & use
breaking curfew
Last updated
“breaking curfew” is a form of “break curfew”.
Meaning
phrase
the act of staying out later than the time you are legally or officially required to be home or indoors
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase or after be/get caught: She was breaking curfew. It describes the action, not a state.
Patterns
- be breaking curfew
- get caught breaking curfew
- accused of breaking curfew
The teenager was grounded for a week after breaking curfew twice.
Soldiers caught breaking curfew face serious punishment.
Breaking curfew can lead to a fine in some cities.
Common combinations
- get caught breaking curfew
- He got caught breaking curfew and had to stay in for the weekend.
- be accused of breaking curfew
- She was accused of breaking curfew but said her watch was wrong.
- breaking curfew rules
- Breaking curfew rules during the emergency was treated very seriously.
Synonyms and how they differ
- staying out late
- This is more general and does not suggest any official rule; breaking curfew always involves a specific time limit.
Opposites
Word family
- curfew noun
- the official time by which you must be indoors
- break curfew verb
- the base form of the phrase
Commonly confused: breaking curfew or curfew?
breaking curfew vs curfew
Curfew is the rule or time itself (a 9 p.m. curfew), while breaking curfew is the act of disobeying it.
Practice
The students were punished for ______ curfew.
Choose one answer.
After the preposition 'for', we need the -ing form: for breaking curfew. 'Break' and 'broke' are verb forms that cannot follow a preposition, and 'to break' would not fit the pattern 'punished for doing something'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “breaking curfew”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.