Meaning & use
event
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Meanings
nouncountable
Something that happens, especially something important or unusual.
Grammar: Countable: a major event, several events.
Patterns
- an event in something
- the events of something
The fall of the wall was one of the great events of the century.
Police are investigating the events that led to the fire.
A sudden rainstorm was the only unexpected event of the trip.
nouncountable
A planned public or social occasion, such as a concert, party or meeting.
Grammar: Countable and often used with host, attend or organise: attend an event.
Patterns
- attend an event
- hold an event
The charity is holding a fundraising event in the town hall.
Tickets for the event sold out within an hour.
She organises events for a big hotel chain.
nouncountablesport
One contest within a larger sports competition, such as a race or a throw.
Grammar: Countable: win an event, enter an event.
Patterns
- win an event
- enter an event
Her best event is the 400 metres hurdles.
He won three events at the national swimming championships.
The final event of the day is the high jump.
Word forms
| plural | events |
|---|
Common combinations
- major event
- The marathon is the major event of the year in our town.
- attend an event
- Around two thousand people attended the event.
- in the event of
- In the event of fire, leave by the nearest exit.
- sporting event
- The stadium hosts every big sporting event in the region.
- current events
- We discuss current events in class every Friday.
- in any event
- In any event, we will be home by ten.
Synonyms and how they differ
- occurrence
- Occurrence is more formal and neutral, simply stating that something happened, while event often suggests something notable.
- incident
- Incident suggests a smaller, often unpleasant or unusual happening, such as a minor accident.
- occasion
- Occasion usually means a particular time when something happens or a special celebration, rather than the happening itself.
- function
- Function means a formal social gathering, so it is narrower than event and sounds a little old-fashioned.
Word family
- eventful adjective
- full of interesting or important happenings
- uneventful adjective
- without anything interesting happening
- eventual adjective
- happening at the end of a process
- eventually adverb
- after a long time or in the end
- eventuality noun
- a possible future happening
Commonly confused: event or eventual? event or incident?
event vs eventual
Eventual describes something that happens in the end, but event is the happening itself; eventual does not mean possible.
event vs incident
An incident is usually smaller and often negative, but an event can be large, planned or joyful.
Practice
Which sentence uses event in the sporting sense?
Choose one answer.
An event in sport is one contest in a programme, like the 200 metres. The wedding is a social occasion, the earthquake is a happening, and in the event of is a fixed phrase meaning if.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “event”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.