collaborate

Everyday

1. To work together with other people to make something or reach a shared goal: «We collaborated on the poster». tree →
2. (history, negative) To help an enemy who has taken over your country, especially in a war: «Some people collaborated with the invaders». tree →

In the lessons

In school, teachers ask pupils to collaborate in group work, science projects and team problem-solving; it is a key skill for scientists, artists and engineers. In history lessons the second, negative sense describes people who helped occupying armies, as in the Second World War. Phrases: «collaborate with someone», «collaborate on a project», «collaborate closely».

Examples

• Our class collaborated with another school to make a newspaper. tree →
• The two authors collaborated on a book about dinosaurs. tree →
• Scientists from many countries collaborated to build the space station. tree →
• In maths we collaborated to solve the puzzle in pairs. tree →
• Musicians collaborate when they write a song together. tree →
• In the war, some people were punished for collaborating with the enemy. tree →
• Let's collaborate instead of arguing about whose idea is best. tree →

Note

Spelled with double l: col-LAB-or-ate. You collaborate WITH a person ON a thing. The noun is «collaboration» and a person who collaborates is a «collaborator» (in history this can be an insult meaning a traitor). Do not confuse with «corroborate», which means to support or confirm a story with evidence.