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# oblige

«oblige» in Mova's school dictionary: **to force them to do something by law, a rule or duty** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (oblige, obliges, obliged, obliging)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To oblige someone means to force them to do something by law, a rule or duty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#m1)

2) To oblige means to help someone by doing what they ask. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#m2)

3) "I'm much obliged" (formal, old-fashioned) means "thank you very much". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In formal and exam language: "Pupils are obliged to wear uniform." In polite speech: "Could you oblige me with a pen?" Phrases: be obliged to, feel obliged to, much obliged, happy to oblige.

### examples

- Drivers are obliged by law to stop at red lights. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x1)
- I felt obliged to help after she helped me. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x2)
- "Could you pass the salt?" "Happy to oblige." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x3)
- Much obliged for your help, sir. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x4)
- The rules oblige us to wear helmets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x5)
- The singer obliged the fans with one more song. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/#x6)

### note

Formal. Adjective: obliging (helpful). Noun: obligation (a duty). Pattern: be obliged to + verb. Similar: must, have to.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «oblige» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/oblige/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.