encourage
/ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ verb A2- To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. · I encouraged him during his race.· Delia's coach encouraged her to focus on the positives.
- To spur on, strongly recommend. · We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.· We encourage you to cycle instead of taking the car.
- To foster, give help or patronage. · The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.
He/she/it encourages · Past encouraged · Past participle encouraged · -ing form encouraging
Verb forms
- Base form
- encourage
- He/she/it
- encourages
- Past
- encouraged
- Past participle
- encouraged
- -ing form
- encouraging
From the library
I felt so encouraged when I heard that.
Is it very wicked of me, Marilla, to feel encouraged when I hear that other people have been bad and mischievous?
I’d have thought that it was real noble of him to confess it, and I’d have thought what an encouraging thing it would be for small boys nowadays who do naughty things and are sorry for them to know that perhaps they may grow up to be ministers in spite of it.
“Well done!” said Holmes in an encouraging voice.
Learn encourage in real texts
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