Meaning & use
comment
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Something you say or write that gives an opinion, reaction or piece of information about a person, event or subject.
Grammar: Countable for one remark (a comment) and uncountable when speaking of reaction in general: no comment.
Patterns
- a comment about something
- a comment on something
- make a comment
Her comment about the schedule surprised everyone in the meeting.
The reporter asked for a comment, but the mayor declined.
I read through the comments under the video before replying.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To say or write what you think or notice about someone or something.
Grammar: Often takes on or about without an object: comment on the results. It can also report speech: she commented that it was late.
Patterns
- comment on something
- comment that something
- comment about something
Several guests commented on how quiet the street was.
The coach refused to comment after the match.
He commented that the soup needed more salt.
nouncountablecomputing
In computing, a line of text inside program code that explains it to people and is ignored when the program runs.
Grammar: Usually written after a marker such as // or #.
Patterns
- a comment in something
- add a comment to something
She left a comment above the function explaining why it was needed.
Remove the comment symbol and the line will run again.
Word forms
| plural | comments |
|---|---|
| third person singular | comments |
| past tense | commented |
| past participle | commented |
| -ing form | commenting |
Common combinations
- make a comment
- He made a comment about the food that nobody forgot.
- decline to comment
- The company declined to comment on the rumors.
- no comment
- When asked about the investigation, the senator replied, no comment.
- comment on
- Teachers will comment on each student's progress at the meeting.
- leave a comment
- Please leave a comment below if you enjoyed the recipe.
- passing comment
- It was only a passing comment, but it stayed with her.
Synonyms and how they differ
- remark
- Remark is a short, often spontaneous thing said aloud, while comment can also be written and may be a formal reaction.
- observation
- Observation stresses something you have noticed and report, whereas comment may be a purely personal opinion.
- statement
- Statement is more formal and complete, such as an official announcement, whereas a comment can be casual.
- feedback
- Feedback is advice about how someone has done something and is uncountable, while a comment need not be meant to help.
Word family
- commentary noun
- a spoken or written series of remarks on an event or text
- commentator noun
- a person who describes or discusses events, for example on television
- commentate verb
- to give a live running description of an event
Commonly confused: comment or commit?
comment vs commit
Commit means to carry out something (commit a crime) or promise yourself to something. Comment means to say what you think.
Practice
The minister refused to ___ on the reports until the investigation was complete.
Choose one answer.
Comment on means to give an opinion or reaction about something. Commend means praise and takes a direct object, while commence means begin.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.