to instruct
188
2.8
- verb
- /ɪnˈstrʌkt/
:
dar instrucciones (a)
- Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been instructed to return to the gate.
- instruct participants
- instruct subjects
- instruct patients
They I mean, he was instructed to not talk to me at all.
- They I mean, he was instructed to not talk to me at all.
- The other group was instructed to eat a high fermented food diet.
- But the wisdom in this statement is that it instructs us to set a boundary.
- Well, they would just have to do as Maude instructed on his deathbed.
- He, after all, had instructed his own officers to shoot communist prisoners.
- Processes them, stores them, uses it to instruct the cells to behave in particular ways.
- Now, like any, any kind of a job, I have to instruct you what it is I want from you.
- But he says to Morpheus, damn it, Morpheus, I taught, I instructed everyone to bring their ships back.
- Israeli soldiers at night held their megaphones and instructed hundreds of Palestinians to flee their homes.
Examples
-
Your Honor, please instruct the witness to just answer the question.
-
All signal men on the line were instructed to let the train pass without delay.
-
So how do I instruct a computer?
-
Did I not instruct that Box 5 was to be kept empty?
-
And he will instruct you on, you know, how to act, how to behave.
-
As the start of this activity, the teacher can instruct the students to fade in one by one.
Academic text (2013) -
During each lesson, the university students were instructed to observe the four learners five times each.
Academic text (1991) -
The other group was instructed to eat a high fermented food diet.
-
I have been instructed to relieve you of your duties here in Venice.
-
The teacher will instruct the students on how to complete the assignment.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Order someone to do something
902
1.3
To tell someone to do something in an official way
240
1.6
To tell someone what to do or show them the way
181
5.0
To give orders that control what other people do
86
3.4
Help someone do something by giving step-by-step instructions
13
8.6
To officially order someone to do or not do something, often by a court
Antonyms
How Forceful
307
2.7
902
1.3
188
2.8
240
1.6
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
∞
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
instruct = in + struct
Formally analyzable as in- + struct- ('build' or 'arrange'), and the sense 'give directions/orders' can be interpreted as 'putting instructions in place', but the morphological elements are not fully transparent to most learners.
Etymology
Instruct comes from Latin parts in- ('in') and struere ('to build' or 'arrange'), the same root you see in structure and construct, so to instruct someone is to 'arrange' their actions by giving clear directions or orders.