ENGLISH
REFERENCE

encourages

v.
B1 Intermediate US //ɛnˈkɝɪdʒɪz// UK //ɛnkˈʌɹɪdʒɪz// en·cour·ages

v. to give someone support, confidence, or hope so they can do something. You also use it when you want to make a behavior more likely to happen.

v. to inspire with confidence, spirit, or hope; to stimulate or foster a particular activity or state. Transitive — requires a direct object, often followed by an infinitive phrase.


SIMPLE

My teacher encourages me to study every day.

CONTEXTUAL

The new government policy encourages small businesses to hire more local staff by offering tax breaks.

COMPLEX

While the mentor encourages creative risk-taking, she also insists on a rigorous evaluation of the potential consequences to ensure the project remains viable.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Usage

The verb is transitive and frequently takes the pattern 'encourage someone to do something'.

Pitfall

she encourages to meshe encourages meEncourage is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.

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