ENGLISH
REFERENCE

participate

v.
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //pɑɹˈtɪsəˌpeɪt// UK //pɑːtˈɪsɪpˌeɪt// par·tic·i·pate Academic Archaic General-service

v. to take part in an activity or event with other people.

v. to take part or become involved in an activity, event, or group. Intransitive in its primary sense.


SIMPLE

She wants to participate in the school play.

CONTEXTUAL

The teacher encouraged every student to participate in the classroom discussion to share their unique perspectives.

COMPLEX

While many citizens vote in the national elections, fewer choose to participate actively in local town hall meetings where specific policy details are debated.

Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Latin participātus, the perfect passive participle of participō (“to take part in, share in, give part in, impart”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from particeps (“taking part (in), sharing (in); someone who takes part (in)”, particip- in compounds), from pars (“part”, part- in compounds) + -ceps (“which takes, taker”), literally “(someone) who takes part”; see part and capable. Compare Old English dǣlniman (“to participate”), an earlier calque of the same Latin verb.

Usage

The verb is intransitive and almost always requires the preposition 'in' before the activity or event.

Pitfall

I want to participate the meetingI want to participate in the meetingParticipate is an intransitive verb and cannot take a direct object; it must be followed by the preposition 'in'.

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