ENGLISH
REFERENCE

go round

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford General-service

phr. v.. to be enough for everyone in a group to have some.

phr. v.. to be sufficient in quantity to satisfy a demand or provide a share for all members of a group; typically used with 'enough'.


SIMPLE

Is there enough cake to go round?

CONTEXTUAL

We only have three copies of the book, which isn't enough to go round the whole class.

COMPLEX

During the drought, the local authorities worried that the remaining water reserves would not go round the growing population of the valley.

Particles
round
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
go + round
Usage

usually used in the infinitive form after 'enough' or in questions about supply.

Teaching tip

contrast this with the physical sense of 'spinning' or 'visiting someone's house' to show how English uses movement verbs to describe distribution.

Pitfall

There is enough bread for go round.There is enough bread to go round.the phrase is almost always used as an infinitive with 'to' when following 'enough'.

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