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Subject to meaning: the small print in a contract

Prices subject to change: they may go up. Two words in small print turn a firm promise into a conditional one, and subject here isn't a topic or a school subject.

Subject to means depending on, or likely to be affected by. The booking is subject to confirmation: it only counts once it's confirmed. Subject to change means 'this may change', a note you'll see on timetables and prices. It sounds official: contracts, rules, notices.

How would you use subject to?

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be subject to + change, approval, rules or checks

  • The programme is subject to change if the weather gets worse.
  • The room booking is subject to confirmation by the organizer.
  • All entries are subject to the same review process.

What changed

First versionThe programme is a subject to change.

RevisionThe programme is subject to change.

Subject is best known as a noun, a topic, so an article goes in front of it: a subject to change. But here subject is an adjective, 'likely to be affected by', and it takes no article: is subject to change.

Cambridge Dictionary

Subjected to is a verb, 'made to undergo': The material was subjected to a pressure test, so the test has happened. Subject to is a condition or a possibility: The plan is subject to approval, so there's no approval yet. Pending approval means the same wait, more briefly.

Your turn

The plan still needs approval: It is subject ___ approval by the organizer.

(to / for)

Show the answer

to — To introduces the approval the plan depends on: subject to approval. For isn't used in this phrase.

Write a short notice about an event that could still change or is waiting for confirmation. Use subject to.

The outdoor session is subject to suitable weather conditions.

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