give away — give something for free
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To give something to someone without asking for money or anything in return.
Say it like a native
Textbook The store distributed free samples to all customers.
Native The shop was giving away free samples.
'Give away' is the natural verb for handing things out free; 'distributed free samples' is a marketing report.
Pattern: give something away (to someone)
In use
- I'm going to give away my old bike to my cousin because I don't use it anymore.daily life
- If I had extra clothes that I no longer wore, I would probably give them away to charity rather than throw them out.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They gave away it for free.
✓ They gave it away for free.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'give it away'.
Common collocations
give away + thing— free samples, prizes, it, old clothes
Don't confuse it
'Give away' is different from 'sell', which means to exchange for money.
Related
- give away (reveal a secret) — Another meaning of 'give away' is 'reveal a secret'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.