planning

Everyday

1. Planning is deciding and arranging what you will do and how, before you do it. tree →
2. Planning can mean a plan or notes made before writing, building or doing something, like story planning. tree →
3. Planning is also the official process of deciding what can be built in a town (planning permission). tree →
4. Be planning to do something means to intend to do it. tree →

In the lessons

In school: planning a story (beginning, middle, end), planning an investigation in science (question, method, fair test), planning in maths problems (what do I know, what do I need, which steps). In everyday life and safety: planning a trip, packing, a fire escape plan, telling someone your plans when you go out. Phrases: «good planning», «planning ahead», «planning to», «planning permission», «in the planning stage».

Examples

• Good planning makes the trip much easier. tree →
• Do your story planning before you start writing. tree →
• We are planning a surprise party for Mum. tree →
• I'm planning to learn to swim this summer. tree →
• Planning ahead helps you not forget anything. tree →
• They needed planning permission to build the extension. tree →
• Our class spent the lesson planning the science experiment. tree →
• Fail to plan, plan to fail. tree →
• And she set off homewards again, cheerfully planning all the grand things she was going to do with her money. tree →

Note

Double the n: «plan → planned, planning». Do not confuse with «planting» (putting seeds in the ground) or «planing» (smoothing wood with a plane). Planning is uncountable: «some planning», not «a planning».