Learn English Vocabulary – Join, Enter, Attend, and Go To

A lot of my students tell me that they have a hard time understanding how to use the words join, enter, attend, go to, and participate in. Today, I want to show you these confusing English words and give you some example sentences so you can see how we use them.

Join means to become a member of a club or team (or the army). When you join something, you officially apply to become a member of it.

• Ichiro joined the Yankees in 2012.
• I joined the gym with my sister.
• It’s quite expensive to join that yacht club.
• I heard Bob wants to join the navy.

Enter also means to officially become a member, and we use enter with a school or university (or the army)

• I entered Colombia University in 2011.
• Jack is entering medical school in the spring, so he’s very busy preparing for that.
• Sue met Frank just after she entered college.
• If you enter the army, you will serve for at least two years.

Attend is a formal word and means to be present at an event, like a meeting, conference, or formal party.

• I attended Jack’s wedding. How lovely!
• Are you attending the meeting tomorrow?
• The boss asked me to attend the workshop on Tuesday.

Go to is an informal phrase and  means to be present at an event, like a meeting, conference, or formal party.

• I went to Jack’s wedding. How lovely!
• Are you going to the meeting tomorrow?
• The boss asked me to go to the workshop on Tuesday.

Participate in means to take an active part or have an active role in an event. When you participate in something you are not just attending, you are doing something along with everyone else at the event.

• Everyone who went to the meeting had a chance to participate in the Q&A session.
• I participated in the debating club when I was in college.
• Since this is an interactive presentation, I want to encourage everyone to participate in the discussion.

Keep in mind the best way to remember this or any vocabulary in English is to take the word or phrase write it in a sentence that’s true for you or true in your world and then memorize your sentences.

You can even take your sentences and write them in the comments below. I would love to see your examples. And if you really want help with vocabulary, sign up for my free vocabulary workshop (see below).

If you know anyone who might be interested in this English language point, why not help them out! Just share this lesson with them. Thanks for studying today!