Meaning & use
giving notice
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
The act of formally telling your employer that you are going to leave your job.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase; it often follows verbs like 'hand in' or 'consider'.
Patterns
- hand in your notice
- give someone notice
- work your notice
After five years at the company, she is giving notice next week.
He handed in his notice on Friday and will leave at the end of the month.
Giving notice means you must keep working until your notice period ends.
phrasefixed phrase
The act of officially telling someone that a contract, agreement, or arrangement will end.
Grammar: Often used with 'to' before the person or organization affected.
Patterns
- give notice to someone
- give notice of something
- without giving notice
The landlord is giving notice to the tenants because he wants to sell the flat.
You must give notice in writing if you want to cancel the contract.
They left the apartment without giving notice, which caused problems for the owner.
Common combinations
- hand in your notice
- She decided to hand in her notice after the argument with her boss.
- work your notice
- He has to work his notice until the end of June.
- give notice to someone
- The company gave notice to all the temporary staff.
- notice period
- My notice period is three months, so I can't start immediately.
Synonyms and how they differ
- resignation
- This is the noun for the act of leaving a job, but it does not always include the formal warning; 'giving notice' focuses on the warning itself.
- termination
- This is more formal and often used when an employer ends the contract, not when the worker chooses to leave.
Word family
Commonly confused: giving notice or notice?
giving notice vs notice
As a verb, 'notice' means to see or become aware of something; 'giving notice' is a fixed phrase about formally ending a job or agreement.
Practice
If you want to leave your job, you usually need to ______.
Choose one answer.
'Give notice' is the correct fixed phrase for formally telling your employer you are leaving. 'Take notice' means to pay attention, and 'make notice' and 'do notice' are not natural English phrases in this context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “giving notice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.