Meaning & use
written
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Set down in words on paper or a screen, not spoken aloud.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a written test; contrast with spoken.
Patterns
- written agreement
- written permission
You need written permission to use the photograph.
The written test comes before the speaking exam.
He sent a written apology the next day.
adjectivebefore a noun
Expressed in a text form, as a language or a style, as opposed to a spoken one.
Grammar: Often contrasts written with spoken language: written English.
Patterns
- written English
- written word
Written English is often more formal than casual speech.
The language has a spoken form but no written form.
Her written style is clear and short.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past participle of write: put in writing or composed as a text.
Grammar: Used with have or be: she has written a book; it was written in 1990.
Patterns
- have written something
- be written by someone
She has written three novels.
The letter was written in blue ink.
I have written down your phone number.
Common combinations
- written consent
- The school needs written consent from parents.
- written warning
- He received a written warning at work.
- the written word
- She trusts the written word more than rumors.
- written in stone
- The rules are not written in stone and can change.
- written evidence
- The court wanted written evidence.
- well written
- The report was clear and well written.
Synonyms and how they differ
- documented
- Documented means recorded as proof, often officially, while written just means set down in words.
- in writing
- In writing is used after a verb, as in confirm it in writing, whereas written comes before a noun.
- printed
- Printed refers to text produced by a press or printer, not hand or keyboard writing.
- recorded
- Recorded can mean saved in sound or video, while written is only text.
Opposites
Word family
- write verb
- to form words in text
- writer noun
- a person who writes
- writing noun
- text or the act of composing it
- writ noun
- a formal legal order
- handwritten adjective
- written by hand
Commonly confused: written or wrote? written or rotten?
written vs wrote
Wrote is the simple past (she wrote it), while written is the past participle used after have or was.
written vs rotten
Rotten sounds similar but means decayed.
Practice
Which sentence is correct?
Choose one answer.
After has, English needs the past participle, written. Wrote is only the simple past and is a tempting error.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “written”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.