Meaning & use
prepared
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verb
Ready for something that is going to happen, because you have thought about it or practiced beforehand.
Grammar: Usually follows be or feel, and takes for: she was prepared for the interview.
Patterns
- be prepared for something
- well prepared
I wasn't prepared for such a long queue.
The team felt well prepared for the final match.
He arrived prepared, with notes and a clear plan.
adjectiveafter a verb
Willing to do something, even if it is difficult or unwelcome.
Grammar: Followed by to plus a verb: I'm prepared to wait.
Patterns
- be prepared to do something
She is prepared to work late to finish the project.
I'm not prepared to lie for you.
Are you prepared to pay more for better quality?
adjectivebefore a noun
Made or got ready in advance, such as food, a speech or a statement.
Grammar: Comes before the noun it describes: a prepared statement.
Patterns
- a prepared speech
- prepared food
The minister read from a prepared statement.
The shop sells prepared meals for busy families.
She gave a prepared answer to the question.
Common combinations
- well prepared
- The students were well prepared for the exam.
- be prepared for
- Be prepared for delays on the motorway.
- be prepared to
- We are prepared to negotiate.
- prepared statement
- The company released a prepared statement.
- ill prepared
- The visitors were ill prepared for the cold.
- fully prepared
- She was fully prepared for any question.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ready
- Ready is simpler and says only that you can start now, whereas prepared stresses that you got ready by planning.
- willing
- Willing fits the second sense of agreeing to do something, but it does not suggest advance planning.
- equipped
- Equipped focuses on having the tools or skills needed rather than the act of getting ready.
- organized
- Organized describes someone's general habits and neatness, not readiness for a particular event.
Opposites
Word family
- prepare verb
- to get something or someone ready
- preparation noun
- the act of getting ready
- preparedness noun
- the state of being ready, as in disaster preparedness
- unprepared adjective
- not ready
- preparatory adjective
- done as an early step before something main
Commonly confused: prepared or prepaid?
prepared vs prepaid
Prepaid means paid for in advance, so it concerns money, not readiness.
Practice
The manager said, 'I am not prepared ___ accept these terms.' Which word completes the sentence?
Choose one answer.
In the sense of willing, prepared is followed by 'to' plus a verb. 'For' would be used before a noun, as in 'prepared for the meeting'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prepared”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.