Meaning & use
organize
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Meanings
verbtransitive
to plan and arrange an activity or event
Grammar: Takes an object: organize a meeting, organize a trip.
Patterns
- organize something
- organize a meeting/party/trip
- organize something for someone
The students organized a charity concert for the local hospital.
Could you organize a meeting with the design team for next week?
She organized the whole wedding in just two months.
verbtransitive
to put things in order or into a clear system
Grammar: Takes an object: organize your notes, organize the files.
Patterns
- organize something
- organize something into something
- get something organized
I spent the morning organizing my desk drawers.
Please organize these documents into three folders.
He organized his photos by date and place.
verbtransitive or intransitive
to form a group, especially a union, or to join together to achieve a shared aim
Grammar: Can take an object (organize the workers) or stand alone (the workers organized).
Patterns
- organize workers
- organize a union
- workers organize
The staff organized a union to negotiate better pay.
Community members organized to protest against the new road.
She spent years organizing farm workers in the region.
Word forms
| third person singular | organizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | organized |
| past participle | organized |
| -ing form | organizing |
Common combinations
- organize an event
- They organize an event for new students every September.
- get organized
- I need to get organized before the new term starts.
- organize a meeting
- He organized a meeting to discuss the budget.
- highly organized
- The trip was highly organized, with every hour planned.
- organize something into groups
- The teacher organized the class into small groups.
Synonyms and how they differ
- arrange
- Often used for putting things in a particular order or making practical plans; 'organize' suggests more overall coordination.
- plan
- Focuses on deciding what to do in advance; 'organize' includes actually setting it up.
- coordinate
- Used when different people or parts must work together smoothly; more formal than 'organize'.
- sort
- Used for putting things into groups or order, especially small items; less formal than 'organize'.
Opposites
Word family
- organization noun
- a group such as a company, or the act of arranging something
- organizer noun
- a person who plans an event, or a thing used to keep items in order
- organized adjective
- arranged well, or (of a person) good at planning
- organizational adjective
- relating to an organization
Commonly confused: organize or organise? organize or arrange?
organize vs organise
This is the British spelling of the same word; 'organize' with -ize is standard in American English and also accepted in Britain.
organize vs arrange
You can arrange a meeting or flowers, but 'organize' is better for large or complex events involving many people.
Practice
We need someone to ______ the school trip this year.
Choose one answer.
After 'to' we need the base form of the verb: 'to organize'. 'Organizing' would follow a preposition like 'for', 'organized' is a past form, and 'organization' is a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “organize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.