Meaning & use
trade
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The buying and selling of goods or services, within a country or between countries.
Grammar: No plural in this sense: international trade.
Patterns
- trade with someone
- trade in something
Trade between the two countries has doubled.
The town grew rich from the wool trade.
Fair trade helps small farmers earn more.
nouncountable
A job that needs special manual skills, learned through training.
Grammar: Countable: learn a trade; plural trades.
Patterns
- learn a trade
- a trade such as carpentry
He learned the plumbing trade from his uncle.
She chose a trade over university.
Carpentry is a respected trade.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To buy and sell goods, stocks, or services.
Grammar: With an object (trade stocks) or with in/with: trade in grain.
Patterns
- trade in something
- trade with someone
The company trades in rare books.
Many people trade shares online.
Merchants once traded with distant lands.
verbtransitive
To give something and get something else in return; to swap.
Grammar: Often with for or with: trade a toy for a book.
Patterns
- trade something for something
- trade places with someone
I traded my sandwich for his cookies.
Would you trade places with me?
They traded stories late into the night.
Word forms
| plural | trades |
|---|---|
| third person singular | trades |
| past tense | traded |
| past participle | traded |
| -ing form | trading |
Common combinations
- free trade
- The countries signed a free trade deal.
- trade deal
- A new trade deal lowered prices.
- trade for
- He traded his old bike for a guitar.
- skilled trade
- Electrical work is a skilled trade.
- trade union
- She joined a trade union.
- trade off
- You often trade off speed for accuracy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- commerce
- Commerce is formal and covers all business activity, whereas trade can be small scale.
- exchange
- Exchange suggests swapping equal things, often without money.
- craft
- Craft emphasizes skill with hands, while trade stresses a paid occupation.
- swap
- Swap is informal and means exchange one thing for another.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: trade or treat? trade or tread?
trade vs treat
Treat means to behave toward someone or to pay for something as a gift, and is not an exchange.
trade vs tread
Tread means to walk on something.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'trade' to mean a skilled job?
Choose one answer.
Learning a trade as an electrician means a skilled occupation. The other sentences use trade for commerce, share dealing, and swapping.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trade”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.