Meaning & use
deserve
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To have earned something good or bad through your actions or qualities.
Grammar: Takes a noun or to-infinitive: deserve a prize, deserve to win.
Patterns
- deserve something
- deserve to do something
- deserve better
You worked all year, so you deserve a long vacation.
The team deserves to win after such a strong season.
He deserved the punishment because he had lied.
verbtransitive
To be worth or in need of something, such as attention or praise.
Grammar: Often used with ideas or issues: this deserves a closer look.
Patterns
- deserve attention
- deserve a mention
The idea deserves serious attention.
Her bravery deserves a special mention.
This problem deserves a better solution.
Word forms
| third person singular | deserves |
|---|---|
| past tense | deserved |
| past participle | deserved |
| -ing form | deserving |
Common combinations
- deserve a break
- You deserve a break after that long shift.
- deserve credit
- The whole team deserves credit for the win.
- deserve to win
- They deserved to win the match.
- deserve better
- Our customers deserve better service.
- richly deserve
- She richly deserves the award.
Synonyms and how they differ
- merit
- Merit is more formal and often refers to something being worthy of attention, while deserve is more common and personal.
- earn
- Earn suggests you worked for something, while deserve says you ought to get it, whether or not you did.
- warrant
- Warrant is formal and fits actions that justify a response, such as a claim warranting attention.
- rate
- Rate is informal and mostly British, as in he does not rate a mention, where deserve is more neutral.
Opposites
Word family
- deserved adjective
- earned or fair
- deserving adjective
- worthy of help or reward
- undeserved adjective
- not earned or not fair
- deservedly adverb
- in a way that is fair or earned
- desert noun
- what someone deserves, usually in the plural just deserts
Commonly confused: deserve or desert?
deserve vs desert
The phrase is just deserts, meaning what someone deserves, not just desserts, though the sound is the same.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
Deserve is followed by a noun or to plus a verb. A gerund after deserve is not standard, and the verb needs the third person -s form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “deserve”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.