Work

Work can be either a noun or a verb. As a noun, it’s usually uncountable (so you don’t say “a work”). If you’re busy, you have a lot of work to do or you need to do some work.

The noun “work” can also describe the place where you work: people might go to work in the morning, be at work during the day and leave work in the afternoon to go home again.

As a verb, work can be followed by for, in or as:

• She works in London for a large insurance company.
• I used to work as a lab technician. (= That was my job.)

The verb “work” can also mean function:

• I’ve turned the kettle on, but it’s not working. (= Nothing is happening.)
• They’ve turned the whole city centre into a pedestrian area. It works really well. (= It’s successful and people like it.)

The phrasal verb work out can have various meanings. If you manage to work something out, you understand it (after thinking about it):

• I knew I’d seen her before, and I finally managed to work out where we’d met.

If you work out or do a workout, you do vigorous exercise in order to get fit:

• She’s really fit. She works out in the gym for an hour every morning.

If something is working out, it’s fine – or will be fine after a while:

• He’s got a job, a girlfriend, a nice flat... Things are working out very well for him.
• Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will work out in the end.