Everyday English · Work & study
Work out
Solve a problem or understand how something works.
You think carefully and reach an answer, calculate a result or understand a problem. This lesson focuses on solving, rather than exercising.
01 · Picture the situation
Understand it in three steps
Imagine this: Three tickets cost £8 each. You multiply three by eight and get £24. You work out the total cost.
02 · Hear it in everyday life
Examples you can use
Three natural sentences
- We worked out the answer together.
- Can you work out how this lock opens?
- The puzzle is difficult, but I can work it out.
A short conversation
Read the conversation aloud. Then swap roles and try it again without looking.
03 · Build your sentence
How to use work out
You can say work out the answer or work the answer out. With it, say work it out. Another useful pattern is work out how + a clause.
The base form is used after can, will and to. The past simple describes a finished past event. The third form follows have or has, for example when connecting an earlier action to now.
A common mistake to avoid
The pronoun it belongs between work and out in this use.
Do not confuse it: Find out can involve asking or reading to discover information. Work out emphasises thinking, reasoning or calculating. Sometimes both can describe getting the answer, but they highlight different processes.
Does it have another meaning?
Work out also means exercise: “I work out at the gym.” And “Everything worked out” means the situation ended successfully. Look at the whole sentence.
Learn the meaning and sentence pattern together. Small words such as up and off do not have one fixed meaning in every expression.
04 · Make it stick
Try it for yourself
Choose an answer before opening the explanation. Then make a sentence about your own life.
- work out the cost
- hand in the cost
- wake up the cost
Check answer 1
A. work out the cost
You are calculating a result, so work out fits.
- work out it
- work it out
- worked it out
Check answer 2
B. work it out
After can, use work; the pronoun it goes in the middle.
3. Your turn
Describe a problem you managed to work out.
See a possible model and self-check
We worked out the answer together.
This is one model, not the only correct answer. Check that your sentence uses the meaning taught here, the right verb form and the word order above. Change the person, place or time to make it your own.