gathering

gathering — noun

1. A planned or unplanned event where people meet as a group for a shared reason —

1.名詞A2
釋義

A planned or unplanned event where people meet as a group for a shared reason — such as a birthday party, a religious service, or a political rally.

例句

Théo's mother organised a family gathering to celebrate his grandmother's ninetieth birthday.

family gathering — common collocation for social events

A large gathering of cyclists meets in the town square every Saturday morning.

large gathering of + group noun

同義詞
  • meeting

    broader term; less festive and can be for work

  • assembly

    more formal; often for official, political, or school purposes

  • get-together

    informal; usually small and social

反義詞
  • dispersal

    the act of people moving apart in different directions

文法句型

adjective + gathering

gathering + of + plural noun

用法筆記

Frequently paired with an adjective that describes the type or size of the event (family gathering, political gathering, large gathering). The preposition 'of' introduces the participants: a gathering of friends.

常見錯誤

❌I went to a gathering of information yesterday.
✅I went to a family gathering yesterday.
💡The 'people' sense of 'gathering' refers to an event, not to collecting things.
❌There was gathering in the hall.
✅There was a gathering in the hall.
💡In the 'people' sense, 'gathering' is countable and needs a determiner.

2. The activity of finding and taking something from where it naturally exists or i

2.名詞B2
釋義

The activity of finding and taking something from where it naturally exists or is spread out, such as collecting wild plants, fruit, firewood, or information from various places.

例句

Mushroom gathering in the forest behind his house took Cyrus the whole morning.

compound noun: mushroom gathering

The gathering of data for the climate study required the research team several months.

gathering of + noun — uncountable use

同義詞
  • collection

    focuses on the result rather than the process

  • foraging

    specifically searching for food in the wild

  • harvesting

    collecting crops or resources that have grown

反義詞
  • distribution

    giving out or spreading things rather than bringing them together

文法句型

the gathering of + noun

noun + gathering (compound)

用法筆記

This sense is uncountable and describes the process, not the result. For the result of collecting, use 'collection' instead: 'The gathering of data took months' (process) vs. 'The collection of data was stored on a server' (result).

常見錯誤

❌The gathering of mushrooms were excellent.
✅The gathering of mushrooms was excellent.
💡'Gathering' in this sense is uncountable and takes a singular verb.
❌The gathering included many old books.
✅The collection included many old books.
💡Use 'collection' for the things that have been gathered, and 'gathering' for the process of collecting them.