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to come with the territory

to come with the territory

17 4.3
To be a normal and unavoidable part of a job or situation
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : formar parte de
  • Should that be the case, the generalists must be aware of the challenges that come with the territory.

And so that's the and we understand that it comes with the territory, but we would never meet if we were doing things the traditional financial way.

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Examples

  • If it results in people calling me self-righteous, well, I guess that comes with the territory.

    Blog text (15)
  • Most of us don't like confrontation, but if you're in management, that comes with the territory.

    Blog text (32)
  • Well, you know it comes with the territory.

  • Thought it sort of came with the territory.

  • Well, you know, it comes with the territory.

  • Despite all the issues and challenges that come with the territory, I love what I do.

    Blog text (34)
  • I have not missed those, but I guess they come with the territory.

    Blog text (19)
  • As for the terrible time you went through after, that kind of comes with the territory.

    Blog text (12)
  • Every policeman knows when he joins the force that there are certain inherent risks that come with the territory.

  • As a teacher, grading papers and dealing with difficult students comes with the territory.

Synonyms

to come with
vsto come with the territory
128 3.9

A result that happens because of something, for example more work after a promotion

is an unavoidable part of a specific task or job

Antonyms

99 3.3

Not required, so you can choose whether to have or use it

Surface Forms

come with the territory past participle
coming with the territory present participle
comes with the territory third person singular

Morphology

come + with + the + territory

The sense ‘to be a natural or unavoidable part of a situation’ is directly derivable from the constituents: ‘come’/‘comes’ (to accompany or originate with) + ‘with’ (accompanying) + ‘territory’ (a domain or area), so the phrase literally means something accompanies that domain. This verb+with+noun composition and the territorial metaphor are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will very likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Come with the territory likely comes from owning land: when you buy a piece of land, things already there—like buildings, neighbours, or problems—literally 'come with' the territory. So saying something comes with the territory means it is 'part of the job' or 'unavoidable' in that situation.