ENGLISH
REFERENCE

hold against

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to let your opinion of someone become worse because of a mistake they made or something they did in the past.

phr. v.. to allow a past action or circumstance to negatively influence one's current judgment of a person; typically used in the negative to express forgiveness or fairness.


SIMPLE

I made a mistake, but please don't hold it against me.

CONTEXTUAL

Even though he was late for the meeting, the boss didn't hold it against him because of the heavy snow.

COMPLEX

While her previous failure was significant, the committee decided not to hold it against her during the final selection process.

Particles
against
Separability
separable
Pattern
hold + object + against + person
Usage

The thing being blamed (the object) usually goes between 'hold' and 'against'.

Teaching tip

This is almost always used with 'it' or a specific action as the direct object, and often appears in the negative ('don't hold it against them').

Pitfall

Don't hold against me it.Don't hold it against me.The pronoun 'it' must come between the verb and the preposition in this structure.

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