Meaning & use
offered
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“offered” is a form of “offer”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Held out or said that you would give something to someone, so that they may accept or refuse it.
Grammar: Past tense and past participle of offer; it can take two objects: she offered me a seat.
Patterns
- offer something to someone
- offer someone something
She offered me a cup of tea as soon as I arrived.
The shop offered a refund because the item was damaged.
He offered his seat to an older passenger.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Said you were willing to do something for someone, or to pay a certain amount.
Grammar: Can take an infinitive: he offered to help; or an amount: they offered a price.
Patterns
- offer to do something
- offer a price for something
Our neighbor offered to water the plants while we were away.
They offered fifty thousand dollars for the old house.
Nobody offered to wash up after dinner.
verbtransitive
Provided or made something available to people.
Grammar: Used for services and products: the school offered evening classes.
Patterns
- offer something to people
The hotel offered free breakfast to all guests.
The college offered courses in design and music.
The new route offered a quicker way to the coast.
Word forms
| base form | offer |
|---|---|
| third person singular | offers |
| past tense | offered |
| -ing form | offering |
Common combinations
- offered a job
- She was offered a job at the museum.
- offered help
- Several neighbors offered help after the flood.
- offered an apology
- He offered an apology for being late.
- offered a discount
- The airline offered a discount to passengers on the delayed flight.
- gladly offered
- She gladly offered her time to the project.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gave
- Gave means the person actually received the item, while offered means it was only held out and may have been refused.
- proposed
- Proposed is more formal and suggests an idea or plan rather than a gift.
- provided
- Provided means supplied something needed, without suggesting the receiver could choose.
- volunteered
- Volunteered stresses doing something willingly without being asked.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: offered or offerred?
offered vs offerred
This is a misspelling; the final consonant is not doubled because the stress is on the first syllable.
Practice
Which spelling is correct?
Choose one answer.
Offer has two f's and one r, and adds -ed with no doubling. The other spellings drop or add letters.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “offered”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.