Meaning & use
came to light
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“came to light” is a form of “come to light”.
Meaning
phraseintransitive
became known or was discovered, especially after being secret or unclear
Grammar: No object; the subject is the fact or thing that became known, often followed by 'that' or a clause: 'It came to light that...'
Patterns
- something came to light
- it came to light that ...
- come to light
New evidence came to light during the investigation.
It came to light that the company had been hiding the losses for years.
Several problems came to light after the building was inspected.
Word forms
| base form | come to light |
|---|---|
| third person singular | comes to light |
| past tense | came to light |
| past participle | come to light |
| -ing form | coming to light |
Common combinations
- facts come to light
- The facts came to light only after the trial.
- details come to light
- More details came to light in the newspaper.
- truth comes to light
- Eventually the truth came to light.
- it came to light that
- It came to light that she had never received the money.
- new information comes to light
- New information came to light last week.
Synonyms and how they differ
- emerged
- Used for facts that become known gradually; 'emerged' often suggests a slow process, while 'came to light' often suggests a sudden discovery.
- was revealed
- More formal and often implies that someone deliberately made the fact known; 'came to light' does not say who found it.
- transpired
- Very formal and mainly British; it can mean 'happened' as well as 'became known', so it is less precise here.
Opposites
Commonly confused: came to light or brought to light?
came to light vs brought to light
'Brought to light' means someone actively revealed something: 'The report brought new facts to light.' 'Came to light' means the facts became known by themselves.
Practice
Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Choose one answer.
The idiom is intransitive: the subject is the thing that becomes known, so 'The scandal came to light' is correct. Option 1 is wrong because 'came to light' cannot take an object like 'the truth'. Option 2 is wrong because 'come' is not used in the passive with this idiom. Option 3 is wrong because it mixes the pattern 'it came to light that...' incorrectly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “came to light”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.