Give the green light means to allow something to start or to approve a plan. The image comes from traffic lights. People mostly say it about decisions by bosses, banks and the authorities: one side gives the green light (give), and the other side gets it (get).
When would you say give the green light?
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give + someone + the green light (to + noun/verb); get the green light (from + someone); greenlight + project
- The council gave the green light to a new cycle lane near our school.
- We finally got the green light from the bank, so we're buying the flat.
- My manager gave me the green light to work from home on Fridays.
What changed
First versionThe director gave the green street to our project.
RevisionThe director gave the green light to our project.
Green street sounds like a literal translation: there's no such idiom in English, and a native speaker will just hear “a green street”. For permission to start, the only option is green light.
In news and business English, the phrase is often squeezed into one verb, greenlight, and its past tense is usually greenlit: The studio has greenlit a second season. A close synonym is give the go-ahead: The boss gave us the go-ahead. Both are neutral and work even in an essay.
Your turn
We ___ the green light from the director, so filming starts on Monday.
Show the answer
got — The permission came from the director, so we received it: got. Gave would mean we gave the permission ourselves, and then from the director wouldn't fit the sentence.
Describe a plan you needed to get approved. Say who gave you the green light and what you were able to do after that.
My landlord gave me the green light to paint the kitchen, so I spent the weekend making it bright yellow.
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