To perform means to carry out or execute a task, duty, or function. It also means to entertain an audience through acting, singing, dancing, or playing a musical instrument.
What Does Perform Mean?
Perform comes from Old French parfournir meaning "to carry out, furnish completely". In modern English it has two main senses: a practical sense (to do or execute a task) and an artistic sense (to entertain an audience).
In academic and professional English, perform is very common in contexts like research ('perform an experiment'), medicine ('perform surgery'), business ('the company performed well'), and sport ('the athlete performed at her best'). The related noun performance and the agent noun performer are equally frequent.
Note that perform often carries a sense of doing something correctly and to a required standard — it implies effort and skill, unlike the more neutral do.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Usage note |
|---|---|
| The doctors performed a complex operation that lasted six hours. | practical sense — carry out a task |
| The choir performed three songs at the school concert. | artistic sense — entertain an audience |
| The new marketing strategy has performed better than expected. | intransitive — produce results |
Synonyms
Antonyms
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She performed a good job on the project.
She did a good job on the project. (Use perform with tasks/operations/experiments, not with "job" — use do a good job.)