discourages
Saydis-KUR-ij-izUS/dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒɪz/UK/dɪsˈkʌɹɪd͡ʒɪz/
- 1Third-person singular present of discourage.
The new policy discourages employees from taking unauthorized leave.
Heavy traffic discourages commuters from driving into the city center.
Note
Two quite different uses share this present-tense form, and both need an object. One lowers someone's spirits: the long wait discourages her. The other steers someone away from an action, usually with from and an -ing verb: the fee discourages visitors from parking. The rare noun discourage, meaning lack of courage, is uncountable, so this spelling is always the verb.
discourages is a form of discourage
discourage, verb: To persuade someone against doing something. Full entry
- Forms
- discouragediscourages he/she/itdiscouraging -ing formdiscouraged past tense, past participle
- Spelling
- discourage → discourages: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /ɪz/, an extra syllable.
Use it in a sentence
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