To identify means to recognise and be able to name someone or something; to find out or establish the identity of a person, thing, or problem.
What Does Identify Mean?
Identify comes from Medieval Latin identificare, combining idem (same) and facere (to make). At its core, it means to establish what something is — to match an unknown thing to a known category or name. It is used across a wide range of contexts, from police investigations ("identify a suspect") to scientific research ("identify a gene") to academic essays ("identify the main themes").
The word is extremely common in formal and written English. It often appears in instructions and exam questions: "Identify the causes of the problem." In everyday speech, it can be replaced by spot, pick out, or recognise, but identify is the standard choice in professional, academic, and official contexts.
A key ESL point: identify is a transitive verb — it almost always takes an object. You do not "identify" alone; you identify something or someone. The reflexive form "identify as" (e.g. "She identifies as bilingual") is also widely used in social and cultural discussions.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Usage note |
|---|---|
| The witness was able to identify the attacker in the police line-up. | identify a person (legal/formal) |
| Scientists have identified a new strain of the virus. | identify a thing (academic/scientific) |
| Can you identify the main argument in this paragraph? | exam / instruction language |
| We need to identify the source of the problem before we can fix it. | identify the source (problem-solving) |
| She identifies strongly with the characters in the novel. | identify with (emotional/social) |
| The app uses facial recognition to identify users automatically. | technology context |
| The report identified several risks that had been overlooked. | identify risks (business/formal) |
| He found it hard to identify exactly what was making him anxious. | informal/psychological use |
Word Forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Base verb | identify | Can you identify the bird? |
| Third person singular | identifies | She identifies the key issues quickly. |
| Past simple | identified | The police identified the suspect. |
| Past participle | identified | Three risks have been identified. |
| Present participle | identifying | Identifying the problem is the first step. |
| Noun | identification / identity | Please show your identification. / She hid her identity. |
| Adjective | identifiable | The bird is easily identifiable by its markings. |
| Negative adjective | unidentifiable | The remains were unidentifiable. |
Common Collocations
| Collocation | Example phrase |
|---|---|
| identify a problem | The first step is to identify a problem clearly before proposing solutions. |
| identify a suspect | Officers asked the victim to identify a suspect from a series of photographs. |
| identify the cause | Doctors worked to identify the cause of the unusual symptoms. |
| identify key themes | Your essay should identify key themes and discuss them in depth. |
| identify a need | The survey helped the charity identify a need for more mental health support. |
| correctly identify | Students must correctly identify the tense used in each sentence. |
| identify with | Many teenagers identify with the struggles described in the book. |
| identify as | She identifies as a non-native speaker, though her English is excellent. |
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
We need to identify about the problem.
We need to identify the problem. (identify takes a direct object — no preposition between the verb and the object)
She identified him as the thief, but he couldn't be identify.
She identified him as the thief, but he couldn't be identified. (passive requires past participle: identified, not identify)
The report identificated three main risks.
The report identified three main risks. (the correct past tense is identified, not identificated)