qualifying

Everyday

1. Qualifying is the -ing form of qualify: trying to earn a place, pass the rules or count as something. tree →
2. As an adjective, a qualifying round, race or match decides who goes through to the next stage. tree →
3. (sport) "Qualifying" can be a noun for the practice races that decide starting places, as in motor racing. tree →

In the lessons

In sport the qualifying stage comes before the main event: only teams that do well in qualifying go to the finals. In money, a "qualifying purchase" or "qualifying age" is one that meets the rules. In maths word problems, the qualifying numbers are the ones that meet the condition. In grammar, a qualifying word limits another word.

Examples

• She ran fast in the qualifying race and made the final. tree →
• Our school is in the qualifying round of the chess cup. tree →
• He crashed during qualifying, so he started the race last. tree →
• The qualifying age for the junior team is under 11. tree →
• Ireland are still qualifying for the World Cup. tree →
• Only qualifying entries will be judged. tree →
• Circle the qualifying numbers: those bigger than 20. tree →

Note

No e before -ing: qualify → qualifying (keep the y). "Qualifying" (the round) comes before "the finals". In everyday talk "qualifiers" means qualifying matches.