phrasal verb/phrase · neutral
break even
/ˈbreɪk ˈiːvən/BREAK·EV·en
to neither make a profit nor incur a loss; to reach a financial point of balance.
Examples
“After costs, the small café only just broke even last month.”
“We need to sell 200 tickets to break even on the event.”
“Many startups struggle to break even in their first two years.”
Band 8 sentence
“The organisers managed to break even after a costly advertising campaign, which was a relief.”
Collocations
- break even on
- barely break even
Word family
Common mistakes
translate as 'break evened' or 'breaked even'→broke even
say 'we are break even' literally→we broke even / we break even / we are breaking even
Say it for a higher band
5not make a profit→6cover costs→7+break even
Synonyms
not make a profit
Easily confused
make ends meet
“Many families find it hard to make ends meet on a single income.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In break …
Learn it with its set