Meaning & use
put through
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To connect someone by telephone to the person or place they want to speak to.
Grammar: Takes an object: put someone through. Often followed by 'to' and the person or department.
Patterns
- put someone through
- put someone through to someone
- put a call through
Could you put me through to the manager, please?
The receptionist put me through to the wrong department.
I'll put you through to technical support.
verbtransitive
To make someone experience something difficult or unpleasant.
Grammar: Takes an object: put someone through something. Often used in passive: be put through something.
Patterns
- put someone through something
- be put through something
The family was put through a lot of pain during the trial.
She put herself through a difficult training program.
He put his parents through a lot of worry.
verbtransitive
To complete or carry out something successfully, especially a plan or a deal.
Grammar: Takes an object: put something through. Often used in business or official contexts.
Patterns
- put something through
- put a deal through
The committee put the new policy through without much debate.
They managed to put the deal through before the deadline.
We need to put this proposal through the board.
Word forms
| third person singular | puts through |
|---|---|
| past tense | put through |
| past participle | put through |
| -ing form | putting through |
Common combinations
- put someone through to
- The operator put me through to the billing department.
- put someone through a lot
- Her illness put the whole family through a lot.
- put a call through
- I'll put the call through to your office.
- put someone through something
- The soldiers were put through intense training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- connect
- Connect is the general word for joining two people on the phone; put through is more specific to a switchboard operator or receptionist doing it for you.
- transfer
- Transfer a call means to pass it to another person or department; put through is similar but often implies the action of an operator.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The correct pattern is 'put someone through to someone'. Option An is wrong because the object pronoun must come between 'put' and 'through'. Option C has the wrong word order. Option D is missing 'to' before the person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “put through”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.