Meaning & use
to book in advance
Last updated
Meaning
phrasetransitive or intransitive
to arrange and reserve something, such as a ticket or table, before the time you need it.
Grammar: Can be used with or without an object: 'Book your tickets in advance' or 'We booked in advance.'
Patterns
- book something in advance
- book in advance
- book a table in advance
It's cheaper to book your train tickets in advance.
We booked the restaurant in advance because it gets very busy on Fridays.
If you don't book in advance, you might not get a seat.
Word forms
| third person singular | books in advance |
|---|---|
| past tense | booked in advance |
| past participle | booked in advance |
| -ing form | booking in advance |
Common combinations
- book in advance
- You should book in advance to get the best seats.
- book a table in advance
- We always book a table in advance for special occasions.
- book tickets in advance
- Book your tickets in advance to avoid the long lines.
- highly recommend booking in advance
- I highly recommend booking in advance during the holiday season.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reserve in advance
- Reserve is more formal and often used for hotels or restaurants; book is more common for tickets and appointments.
- pre-book
- Pre-book is a slightly more informal, single-word way to say the same thing, often used in advertising.
Opposites
Word family
- booking noun
- An arrangement made in advance, such as for a hotel room or ticket.
- advance booking noun
- A reservation made before the day of the event or trip.
Commonly confused: to book in advance or book in?
to book in advance vs book in
Book in means to register at a hotel or clinic when you arrive; book in advance means to reserve before you arrive.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'book in advance' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Book in advance' means to reserve something before you need it, as in 'booked our hotel in advance.' The other options use the phrase with the wrong meaning or grammatical pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “to book in advance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.