Meaning & use
familiarize
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To learn about something enough that it no longer seems strange, by reading, practicing or studying it.
Grammar: Used with a reflexive pronoun and with: familiarize yourself with the rules.
Patterns
- familiarize yourself with something
- familiarize oneself with something
Please familiarize yourself with the fire exits before the event.
I spent the weekend familiarizing myself with the new software.
Before the interview, she familiarized herself with the company's recent projects.
verbtransitive
To help someone become acquainted with something by showing or explaining it to them.
Grammar: Takes a person as the object, followed by with: the guide familiarized visitors with the layout.
Patterns
- familiarize someone with something
The orientation week familiarizes new students with campus life.
A short tour will familiarize the team with the equipment.
Teachers use games to familiarize children with basic maps.
Word forms
| third person singular | familiarizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | familiarized |
| past participle | familiarized |
| -ing form | familiarizing |
Common combinations
- familiarize yourself with
- Familiarize yourself with the safety rules first.
- familiarize staff with
- The training aims to familiarize staff with the new system.
- familiarize students with
- The course familiarizes students with basic research methods.
- quickly familiarize
- He quickly familiarized himself with the neighborhood.
- familiarize the public with
- The campaign hopes to familiarize the public with recycling rules.
Synonyms and how they differ
- acquaint
- Acquaint is more formal and is usually followed by with, as in acquaint yourself with the facts.
- accustom
- Accustom stresses getting used to something over time, while familiarize stresses getting to know it.
- introduce
- Introduce means to present something for the first time, whereas familiarize suggests going on to know it well.
- brief
- Brief means to give someone key facts before an action, and it does not imply learning through practice.
Opposites
Word family
- familiar adjective
- well known or easily recognized
- familiarity noun
- knowledge of something or closeness with someone
- familiarization noun
- the process of becoming or making familiar
- unfamiliar adjective
- not known or strange
Commonly confused: familiarize or familiarize with?
familiarize vs familiarize with
Learners sometimes say familiarize to something; the correct preposition is always with.
Practice
Before using the machine, you should familiarize yourself ___ the instructions.
Choose one answer.
Familiarize takes with before the thing you are learning; to, for and about are common errors.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “familiarize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.