Ready (adjective) — prepared and in a suitable state for immediate action or use; willing and eager to do something. Ready (verb) — to prepare someone or something for a particular purpose. Readily (adverb) — willingly, without hesitation, or without difficulty.
What Does Ready Mean?
Ready comes from the Old English word rǣde, meaning "prepared" or "prompt", related to the verb rǣdan (to advise, arrange). It shares roots with Old Norse greiðr (ready, clear) and Old High German reiti. The word has been central to the English language since before the 12th century, making it one of the oldest and most stable adjectives in everyday use.
As an adjective, ready describes a person or thing that has been prepared and is now in the right state to act or be used: "Dinner is ready." "The report is ready to send." It also describes a mental or emotional willingness: "I am ready to face whatever comes next." In this sense it overlaps with willing, though ready adds the idea of practical preparation.
As a verb, to ready means to put in a state of preparation: "The crew readied the spacecraft for launch." This form is more common in formal or journalistic writing. In everyday speech, get ready or prepare are used instead. The noun form is readiness and the standard adverb is readily.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Level & usage note |
|---|---|
| Are you ready to start the listening exercise? | A2 — ready + to-infinitive; direct question |
| I always get ready for school the night before so I am not late. | B1 — phrasal expression ‘get ready for’; habitual present |
| The meal will be ready in about twenty minutes, so please sit down. | B1 — ready as predicate adjective; near future |
| She felt ready to take on more responsibility after two years in the role. | B2 — feel ready + to-infinitive; professional context |
| Ground crew had readied the aircraft well in advance of the scheduled departure. | C1 — ready used as a verb (past tense); formal/journalistic register |
Collocations
| Collocation | Example in context |
|---|---|
| get ready | Get ready — the bus leaves in five minutes. |
| be ready to | She was ready to give up, but her coach encouraged her. |
| ready for | The children were ready for bed by eight o'clock. |
| ready-made | We bought a ready-made sauce instead of cooking from scratch. |
| ready meal | Ready meals are convenient but often high in salt. |
| at the ready | She had her notebook at the ready throughout the lecture. |
| rough and ready | The cabin was rough and ready but perfectly adequate for a weekend stay. |
| ready cash | Always carry some ready cash in case card machines are unavailable. |
| make ready | They made ready the hall for the evening ceremony. |
| readily available | Most ingredients in this recipe are readily available in any supermarket. |
Usage Notes
Key Patterns to Know
- ready + to-infinitive is the most common structure: ready to go, ready to help, ready to start. This works for both persons and things.
- ready + for + noun indicates preparation towards a specific event or situation: ready for the exam, ready for action, ready for bed.
- As a predicate adjective, ready follows linking verbs: be ready, feel ready, seem ready, look ready.
- The compound adjective ready-made (also ready-to-wear, ready-to-eat) is hyphenated when used before a noun: a ready-made solution.
- The adverb readily means willingly or without difficulty: She readily admitted the mistake. Do not use ready alone as a manner adverb in standard written English.
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She is ready for go to the party.
She is ready to go to the party. (use the to-infinitive, not ‘for + infinitive’)
He answered the question ready.
He answered the question readily. (use the adverb form readily to modify a verb)
Are you ready for start?
Are you ready to start? (before a verb, use ready to, not ready for)