grammar · academic
discourage + somebody + from + V-ing
to make someone less likely to do something, often by providing reasons or obstacles
Examples
“Strict rules can discourage young people from committing petty crimes.”
“High prices may discourage consumers from buying imported goods.”
“Scare stories about the risks discouraged him from investing.”
Band 8 sentence
“While fines may deter minor offences, longer-term education programmes are necessary to discourage antisocial behaviour effectively.”
Collocations
- discourage somebody from doing something
- be discouraged from
- discourage from participation
Word family
Common mistakes
discourage somebody to do something→discourage somebody from doing something
discourage doing something→discourage somebody from doing something
discouraged of doing→discouraged from doing
Say it for a higher band
5stop somebody + from + V-ing→6prevent somebody from + V-ing→7+discourage somebody from + V-ing
Synonyms
deter
put off
Easily confused
prevent + somebody + from + V-ing
“Heavy rain prevented the team from playing the match.”
deter somebody from V-ing
“High fines are intended to deter people from illegal dumping.”
Related words
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In Gerunds & infinitives
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