Give away means to give something for free, hand things out, or reveal something (a secret, the ending of a film, your feelings). For example, “give away old clothes” or “give away the ending”, which means telling people how a story ends and spoiling the surprise.
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give away + thing (to + person); give it away; give away + secret/ending; give yourself away
- Before moving abroad, I gave away most of my furniture to friends and neighbours.
- The new café is giving away free coffee to its first fifty customers this morning.
- Please don't give away the ending; I've only watched the first three episodes.
What changed
First versionI borrowed Kate's charger last week and gave it away yesterday.
RevisionI borrowed Kate's charger last week and gave it back yesterday.
In English, returning something and giving it away for good are two different phrases. “Give back” means to return something to its owner, while “give away” means to let it go permanently, usually for free. “Gave it away” says that you gave Kate's charger to someone else.
In its second meaning, “give away” means to reveal: a secret, a plan or yourself. She said she knew nothing, but her smile gave her away. Here it is not about things, but about information that slips out.
Your turn
When we moved to a smaller flat, we ___ most of our books to a charity shop.
Show the answer
gave away — The books were yours, and you gave them to a charity shop for good, so “gave away” is right. “Gave back” would mean you returned the books to where they came from, but you never took them from the shop.
Write about something you gave away when you no longer needed it. Name the thing and say who you gave it to.
I gave away my old bike to my neighbour's son because I hadn't ridden it for two years.
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