Meaning & use
of my own accord
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Meanings
phraseidiom
Because I chose to, without being asked, forced or told to do it.
Grammar: Adverbial phrase; the possessive matches the subject: she left of her own accord.
Patterns
- do something of your own accord
- leave of your own accord
I stayed late of my own accord; nobody asked me to.
He resigned of his own accord before the review began.
Nobody pushed her, and she apologized of her own accord.
phraseidiom
Describing something that happens by itself with no person causing it.
Grammar: Used with a thing as the subject: the door closed of its own accord.
Patterns
- something happens of its own accord
The gate swung shut of its own accord in the wind.
The rash went away of its own accord after a week.
The machine restarted of its own accord overnight.
Common combinations
- leave of my own accord
- I left the company of my own accord, so I received no severance.
- come forward of your own accord
- The witness came forward of her own accord.
- act of your own accord
- He acted of his own accord and did not tell his boss.
- close of its own accord
- The lid closed of its own accord as the spring relaxed.
- heal of its own accord
- A small cut will usually heal of its own accord.
Synonyms and how they differ
- voluntarily
- Voluntarily is a single word that sounds more formal, while of my own accord feels warmer and more personal.
- willingly
- Willingly stresses that you were happy to do it, whereas of my own accord stresses that nobody made you.
- spontaneously
- Spontaneously suggests an unplanned burst of action, while of my own accord can describe a calm and considered choice.
Opposites
Word family
- accord noun
- agreement or harmony
- accord verb
- to give or grant something, or to agree
- accordance noun
- agreement with a rule, as in in accordance with
Commonly confused: of my own accord or on my own?
of my own accord vs on my own
On my own means alone or without help, not by free choice.
Practice
Nobody told her to apologize; she did it ___.
Choose one answer.
Of her own accord is the fixed idiom for acting by free choice. The other options look similar but are not natural English expressions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “of my own accord”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.