Meaning & use
persuade
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To get someone to agree to do something by giving reasons or encouragement.
Grammar: Takes a person, then to plus a verb: persuade her to stay, not persuade her staying.
Patterns
- persuade someone to do something
- persuade someone into something
- persuade someone not to do something
I managed to persuade my brother to lend me his car.
Nothing could persuade her to change her mind.
The guide persuaded us not to hike in the storm.
verbtransitive
To make someone believe that something is true or that a statement is correct.
Grammar: Takes a person, then of or that: persuade the jury of his innocence, persuade them that it is safe.
Patterns
- persuade someone of something
- persuade someone that something is true
The lawyer persuaded the jury of her client's innocence.
It took a long demonstration to persuade the buyers that the machine was safe.
He was never fully persuaded by their explanation.
Word forms
| third person singular | persuades |
|---|---|
| past tense | persuaded |
| past participle | persuaded |
| -ing form | persuading |
Common combinations
- persuade someone to
- Can you persuade him to come with us?
- try to persuade
- They tried to persuade the council to build a park.
- easily persuaded
- She is easily persuaded by a good sales pitch.
- persuade someone of
- The data persuaded the board of the project's value.
- hard to persuade
- Voters were hard to persuade this year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- convince
- Convince is mainly about making someone believe something, while persuade is more often about making someone act.
- coax
- Coax means gently and patiently persuading, often someone reluctant, which is softer than persuade.
- talk into
- Talk into is an informal phrase that sounds more casual, and it can suggest the person did not really want to.
- urge
- Urge means strongly encouraging someone but does not promise success, while persuade means the person was actually won over.
Opposites
Word family
- persuasion noun
- the act of getting someone to do or believe something
- persuasive adjective
- good at convincing people
- persuasively adverb
- in a convincing way
- persuader noun
- a person who persuades
- unpersuaded adjective
- not convinced
Commonly confused: persuade or convince? persuade or dissuade?
persuade vs convince
Convince is usually followed by of or that and focuses on belief. Persuade is usually followed by to plus a verb and focuses on action.
persuade vs dissuade
Dissuade means the opposite: to talk someone out of doing something.
Practice
My friends finally ___ me to join the choir.
Choose one answer.
Persuade takes a person plus to and a verb. Convinced of needs a noun phrase, and insisted and suggested do not take me to join this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “persuade”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.