Meaning & use
not participate
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Meaning
phraseintransitive
to choose not to take part in an activity, event, or discussion
Grammar: No object. Often followed by 'in': not participate in something. The negative 'not' comes before the verb.
Patterns
- not participate in something
- not participate in doing something
She decided not to participate in the singing competition.
Many students chose not to participate in the survey.
If you do not participate in the meeting, you will miss important information.
Common combinations
- not participate in
- He did not participate in the group project.
- choose not to participate
- They chose not to participate in the protest.
- refuse to participate
- The union refused to participate in the talks.
- actively not participate
- She actively did not participate in the discussion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- abstain
- More formal and often used for voting or drinking; 'not participate' is more general.
- opt out
- Focuses on choosing to leave or not join a system; 'not participate' is neutral about the reason.
- sit out
- Informal and often means not taking part in a game or dance; 'not participate' is more neutral.
Opposites
Word family
- participate verb
- To take part in something.
- participation noun
- The act of taking part.
- participant noun
- A person who takes part.
Commonly confused: not participate or not participate in?
not participate vs not participate in
Learners sometimes omit 'in'. Say 'participate in an activity', not 'participate an activity'.
Practice
She decided ______ the competition because she was too busy.
Choose one answer.
After 'decide', we use the infinitive 'to participate'. The negative form is 'not to participate in'. Option 0 lacks 'to', option 1 lacks 'in', and option 3 uses the -ing form, which is not correct after 'decide'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “not participate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.