Meaning & use
subcontract
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Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitive
To arrange for another person or company to do part of the work you have agreed to do.
Grammar: Can take an object (subcontract the work) or be used without one, often with 'to': subcontract to a firm.
Patterns
- subcontract something to someone
- subcontract work to a company
- subcontract to a firm
- subcontract out
The construction company subcontracted the plumbing to a local expert.
They often subcontract when they have more orders than they can handle.
We subcontracted the design work to a freelancer.
Word forms
| third person singular | subcontracts |
|---|---|
| past tense | subcontracted |
| past participle | subcontracted |
| -ing form | subcontracting |
Common combinations
- subcontract work to
- They decided to subcontract the work to a cheaper supplier.
- subcontract out
- The company subcontracted out most of its customer service.
- subcontract a project
- We subcontracted the entire project to a specialist team.
Synonyms and how they differ
- outsource
- Often means sending work to an outside company, sometimes abroad; 'subcontract' focuses on transferring part of a contract to another party.
- farm out
- Informal; means to send work to others, but 'subcontract' is the formal business term.
Word family
- subcontractor noun
- A person or company that does work for another under a subcontract.
- subcontract noun
- A formal agreement to have part of a job done by another party.
Commonly confused: subcontract or contract?
subcontract vs contract
'Contract' means to make a legal agreement to do work; 'subcontract' means to pass part of that work to someone else.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The verb 'subcontract' is followed by 'to' when naming the party that receives the work. The other prepositions do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subcontract”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.