phrasal verb (idiom) · informal
put two and two together
UK/pʊt tuː ənd tuː təˈɡeðə/US/pʊt tu ənd tu təˈɡɛðər/put·two·and·two·TO·geth·er
to make a logical conclusion from available facts; to deduce
Examples
“When I saw the empty boxes and the van, I put two and two together and realised they had moved.”
“You should be able to put two and two together from the clues in the passage.”
“After hearing the rumours, she put two and two together and confronted him.”
Band 8 sentence
“By cross-referencing the witness statements and CCTV footage, the detective quickly put two and two together.”
Collocations
- put two and two together from the clues
Word family
Common mistakes
put two and two→put two and two together
put one and one together→put two and two together
Say it for a higher band
5figure out→6work out→7+put two and two together
Synonyms
deduce
work out
Easily confused
work out
“He worked out the answer after reading the clues carefully.”
Related words
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In put …
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