verb · neutral
ripen
/ˈraɪ.pən/RI·pen
Band 5-6task1task2speaking
to become ripe or to make something become ripe
Examples
“If you leave the bananas in the sun, they will ripen faster.”
“Farmers usually wait for pears to ripen on the tree before picking.”
“You can speed up the process by storing apples with a ripe banana.”
Band 8 sentence
“If farmers harvest early to avoid pests, the fruit often doesn't ripen properly, which reduces its market value.”
Collocations
- ripen on the tree
- ripen quickly
- help fruit ripen
- ripen naturally
Word family
ripen verb (base)ripens verb (3rd person singular)ripened verb (past / past participle); adjectiveripening verb (present participle); noun
Common mistakes
The fruit is ripen.→The fruit is ripe.
We ripen the fruit on tree.→We let the fruit ripen on the tree.
Say it for a higher band
5get ripe→6become ripe→7+ripen
Synonyms
mature
get ripe
Easily confused
mature
“Her ideas matured during the internship.”
Related words
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In -en
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