repay
gb/ɹipˈeɪ/ us/ɹipˈeɪ/
B1
Inglês
~ 7700
Aceções
0 aceções
Verbo
B1
action
1
pay back money owed
To give back money that you borrowed or owe.
Padrão de uso:
to repay [someone] [money] / to repay [a loan, a debt]
Erro comum:
Learners sometimes confuse 'repay' with 'refund'. 'Repay' is used from the borrower’s side (you repay a loan), while 'refund' is usually used when a seller gives money back for a product or service. Also, 'repay' is more formal; in casual speech, 'pay back' is more common.
Sinónimos
pay back (More informal and common in everyday speech; meaning is almost the same.)
|
settle (Often used with 'a bill' or 'a debt'; slightly more formal and broader than just returning borrowed money.)
Antónimos
borrow (Means to take and use someone else’s money with the intention of repaying it later, the opposite direction of payment.)
|
default (Means to fail to pay money owed, the opposite of repaying a debt.)
Colocações
repay a loan
|repay a debt
|repay the money
|repay with interest
|fully repaid
Temas
business
|daily life
|money
|finance
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- We should be able to repay the loan within five years.
- He finally repaid all the money he owed his parents.
- The company repaid its debts ahead of schedule.
- I’ll repay you as soon as I get my paycheck.
- They agreed to repay the bank in monthly installments.
Exemplos para aprendentes
- I must repay this loan by next year.
- She repaid her friend the $50 she borrowed.
- The bank said I can repay the money in six months.
- He repaid all his debts after he got a job.
Verbo
B2
action
2
return a favor or kindness
To do something good for someone because they did something good for you.
Padrão de uso:
to repay [someone] (for) [a favor / their kindness / their support]
Erro comum:
Learners sometimes use 'repay' only with money and feel unsure using it for actions. In this sense, 'repay' is often used with abstract nouns like 'kindness', 'support', or 'generosity', and you do not need to mention money. Also, saying '*repay a favor to you*' is unnatural; say 'repay you for the favor' or 'repay the favor'.
Sinónimos
return the favor (Informal phrase that focuses specifically on doing a similar helpful act in response.)
|
show gratitude (Focuses more on the feeling and expression of thanks than on doing a concrete action in return.)
Antónimos
take for granted (Describes failing to show thanks or do anything in return, the social opposite of trying to repay kindness.)
|
exploit (Means to use someone for your own benefit without trying to give anything back, opposite in attitude to repaying kindness.)
Colocações
repay your kindness
|repay the favor
|repay someone's support
|repay someone's generosity
|repay a kindness
Temas
social relations
|emotions
|relationships
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- I can never fully repay you for all your help last year.
- She was determined to repay their kindness by volunteering at the shelter.
- He tried to repay his mentor’s support by mentoring younger colleagues.
- How could I ever repay such generosity?
- They wanted to repay the favor by inviting her to stay with them.
Exemplos para aprendentes
- Thank you so much. I don’t know how to repay you.
- She wants to repay his kindness one day.
- He helped me find a job, and I hope I can repay the favor.
- I will repay your support by working hard.
Verbo
C1
action
3
respond with similar treatment
To answer what someone did to you by doing something similar back to them, often something bad.
Padrão de uso:
to repay [someone] for [an insult / a wrong] / to repay [an insult, cruelty, trust] with [an action]
Erro comum:
Learners may think 'repay' is only about money and miss this emotional or moral use. Note the patterns 'repay X with Y' and 'repay someone for something'. Using a direct object like '*repay him with*' without saying what you repay (e.g. 'repay him with kindness') sounds incomplete.
Sinónimos
retaliate (Focuses strongly on revenge or counter-attack; often more formal and more clearly negative.)
|
get back at (Informal phrasal verb; more clearly about revenge than neutral matching of treatment.)
Antónimos
forgive (Means to choose not to punish or hurt someone back, the opposite of repaying a bad action.)
|
let it go (Informal; means to refuse to respond or stay angry, opposite to reacting with similar treatment.)
Colocações
repay an insult
|repay violence with violence
|repay cruelty with kindness
|repay someone's trust with lies
|repay evil with evil
Temas
conflict
|social relations
|relationships
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- She refused to repay their cruelty with more cruelty.
- He repaid the insult with a calm smile and walked away.
- They were tempted to repay violence with violence but chose to leave instead.
- He repaid her trust with lies and manipulation.
- The team is eager to repay last year’s defeat with a win.
Exemplos para aprendentes
- He did not want to repay hate with hate.
- She repaid their bad words with silence.
- They repaid the attack with an even stronger attack.
- He repaid her trust with a lie.
Verbo
formal
C1
state
4
be worth time or effort
To give enough good result or pleasure so that the time, effort, or money you spent feels worth it.
Padrão de uso:
[something] repays [effort / study / investment / attention]
Erro comum:
This sense is often misread as financial. When we say 'a book repays study', we do not mean it gives back money; we mean it gives enough value to make the study worth it. Learners also sometimes say '*repay the time*' directly; more natural is 'repay the effort', 'repay study', or 'repay a visit'.
Sinónimos
reward (Very close in meaning when used of activities or efforts, but 'reward' is more common and slightly less formal.)
|
be worth (More general and very common; 'repay' here sounds more formal and is often used with abstract nouns like 'study' or 'effort'.)
Antónimos
waste (If something is a waste of time or money, it does not repay the effort or cost.)
|
not be worth it (Common phrase meaning the result is too small for the effort, opposite of repaying the effort.)
Colocações
repay the effort
|repay careful study
|repay close attention
|repay investment
|repay investigation
Temas
evaluation
|work
|core_vocabulary
|daily_life
Exemplos
- It’s a difficult novel, but it really repays careful study.
- The project was risky, yet it repaid the investment many times over.
- The film is slow at first, but your patience will be repaid by a powerful ending.
- This old city repays a longer visit, if you have the time.
- The course demands a lot of work, but it repays the effort.
Exemplos para aprendentes
- The book is hard to read, but it repays your time.
- Learning this skill will repay your effort in the future.
- The long walk was tiring, but the view repaid us.
- Serious study of the language will repay you.
Gramática
Forma de dicionário
repay
IPA
GB/ɹipˈeɪ/
US/ɹipˈeɪ/
Sílabas e acento
re - pay (2 sílabas)
Stress on 2nd syllable (pay)
Formas da palavra
Verb
- Base: repay
- 3rd Person Singular: repays
- Present Participle: repaying
- Past: repaid
- Past Participle: repaid
Família de palavras
Forms
repays
verb
repaying
verb
repaid
verb
Core family
repayment
noun B2
Negative and opposite forms
unpaid
adjective A2
nonpayment
noun
Advanced or less common
repayable
adjective
Destaques
- Irregular past: repaid Verb
- Irregular past participle: repaid Verb
Expressões
repay in kind
1/ɹipˈeɪ ˈɪn kˈaɪnd/
idiom
respond with similar treatment
To do the same type of thing back to someone that they did to you, especially in the way you treat them.
Exemplos
- They were kind to us, and we tried to repay them in kind.
- He insulted her in public, and she repaid him in kind the next day.
- She refused to repay their rudeness in kind and stayed polite.
repay the favor
2/ɹipˈeɪ ðə fˈeɪvɚ/
fixed phrase
do something helpful in return
To do something helpful for someone because they did something helpful for you before.
Exemplos
- Thanks for looking after my kids; I’ll repay the favor sometime.
- He drove me to the airport, and I hope I can repay the favor soon.