Meaning & use
interviews
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“interviews” is a form of “interview”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Formal meetings in which someone asks a person questions, for example to decide whether to hire them or to gather information for a story.
Grammar: Plural of interview: several meetings, as in two interviews this week.
Patterns
- interviews with someone
- interviews for something
She has three job interviews lined up for next week.
The magazine published a series of interviews with local farmers.
Police conducted interviews with everyone who had been at the party.
verbtransitive
Third-person singular of interview: asks someone a set of questions in a formal conversation.
Grammar: Takes an object: she interviews candidates.
Patterns
- someone interviews someone for something
The reporter interviews a different chef every Friday.
Our manager interviews each applicant for about forty minutes.
He interviews people about their daily routines for his podcast.
Word forms
| singular | interview |
|---|---|
| past tense | interviewed |
| -ing form | interviewing |
Common combinations
- job interviews
- Job interviews make many people nervous.
- conduct interviews
- The team will conduct interviews over two days.
- give interviews
- The author rarely gives interviews.
- television interviews
- She did several television interviews after the match.
- face-to-face interviews
- We prefer face-to-face interviews to phone calls.
Synonyms and how they differ
- meetings
- Meetings is broader and does not imply one side asking the questions.
- consultations
- Consultations suggest seeking advice from an expert rather than testing or questioning someone.
- questionings
- Questionings sounds more like a police or legal setting and is much less common.
Word family
- interview noun
- one such meeting
- interviewer noun
- the person who asks the questions
- interviewee noun
- the person who answers them
- interviewed verb
- past form of the verb
Commonly confused: interviews or interrogations?
interviews vs interrogations
Interrogations are aggressive, often forced questioning by police or officials, while interviews are normally polite and voluntary.
Practice
The company ____ all applicants in person before making an offer.
Choose one answer.
Interviews means formally questions candidates. Interrogates is too harsh for a hiring setting.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interviews”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.