Meaning & use
participate
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To join in an activity or event along with others, rather than just watching.
Grammar: No direct object; usually followed by in: participate in the discussion.
Patterns
- participate in something
- participate with someone
All students are encouraged to participate in the science fair.
He was too shy to participate in the class debate.
Over a thousand runners participated in the charity race.
verbintransitiveformal
To share in something such as profits or a scheme, receiving a part of the benefit.
Grammar: Often used in business: participate in the plan; less common in everyday speech.
Patterns
- participate in something
Employees may participate in the company's profit-sharing scheme.
Investors will participate in any gains from the sale.
Word forms
| third person singular | participates |
|---|---|
| past tense | participated |
| past participle | participated |
| -ing form | participating |
Common combinations
- participate actively
- She participates actively in every team meeting.
- participate fully
- The new rules let everyone participate fully.
- participate in a survey
- Thousands of voters agreed to participate in the survey.
- participate in a discussion
- Please feel free to participate in the discussion.
- refuse to participate
- Two members refused to participate in the vote.
Synonyms and how they differ
- take part
- Take part is the more casual two-word way to say participate and takes in as well.
- join in
- Join in suggests starting to do something others are already doing, and is more informal.
- engage
- Engage stresses deep involvement or attention rather than just being present in an event.
- compete
- Compete implies trying to win against others, while participate only means being involved.
Opposites
Word family
- participant noun
- a person who takes part
- participation noun
- the act of taking part
- participatory adjective
- allowing or encouraging people to take part
- participator noun
- less common word for a participant
Commonly confused: participate or anticipate?
participate vs anticipate
Anticipate means to expect or prepare for something, and does not mean to take part.
Practice
Choose the correct preposition: Everyone is welcome to participate ___ the workshop.
Choose one answer.
Participate takes in before the activity. At and to do not fit the pattern, and with in is not a standard phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “participate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.