Share (verb) — to use, have, or enjoy something together with others; to divide something between people; to tell or show something to others.
Share (noun) — a portion or part of something belonging to or owed to a person; a unit of ownership in a company.
What Does Share Mean?
Share comes from Old English scearu, meaning a cutting or division, related to the verb shear (to cut). The Old English root connects to the Proto-Germanic *skarō. The core idea — dividing something into portions — is still central to all modern uses of the word. The financial sense of share as a unit of stock in a company emerged in 17th-century Britain alongside the growth of joint-stock trading companies such as the East India Company.
In everyday English, share is one of the most productive words in the language because it appears in so many contexts: sharing food, sharing news, sharing costs, sharing feelings, and sharing content online. It carries a positive social meaning — the idea of inclusion and fairness — which is why the word has also become central to social media culture ("share this post").
As a verb, share is usually followed by the preposition with: share something with someone. As a noun referring to a portion, it often appears with adjectives such as fair, equal, or lion's. In finance, shares is almost always plural when referring to stock holdings.
Example Sentences by CEFR Level
| Sentence | Level & Note |
|---|---|
| She shared her vocabulary flashcards with the rest of the class. | A2 — verb + with + noun phrase |
| Can we share a taxi to the station? It will be cheaper for both of us. | B1 — verb used for joint use of a resource |
| He didn't want to share his feelings at first, but eventually he opened up. | B1 — verb meaning to tell or disclose |
| The company issued new shares to raise capital for the expansion project. | B2 — noun in financial context |
| While her colleagues did the lion's share of the administrative work, she focused on client relations and strategy. | C1 — idiomatic noun use; complex clause structure |
Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| share a room | The two students shared a room in the university hall of residence. |
| share a meal | We shared a meal before the conference began. |
| share responsibility | The manager and her deputy share responsibility for the final decision. |
| share information | Please share any relevant information with the whole team. |
| share a concern | I'd like to share a concern about the project timeline. |
| fair share | Everyone must do their fair share of the housework. |
| lion's share | The production team received the lion's share of the award nominations. |
| buy shares | She decided to buy shares in the renewable energy company. |
| share price | The share price fell sharply after the announcement. |
| share out | They shared out the remaining supplies equally among the volunteers. |
Usage Notes
Key Points for Learners
Preposition: Always use with after share when a recipient is mentioned: share your ideas with the group. The preposition among or between is used when dividing: share the prize money among three winners.
Verb vs noun: When share is a noun meaning a portion, it is countable: a share, shares. When it refers to general participation or joint use, it can appear without an article: share in the success.
Register: In formal writing, disseminate or distribute may replace share when referring to information. In casual digital communication, share is the dominant term for forwarding content on social platforms.
British English note: In British English, the financial unit is always called a share. In American English the same unit is more commonly called a stock, though share is also used there.
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
She shared her notes to the class.
She shared her notes with the class. (use with, not to)
I want to share you my experience.
I want to share my experience with you. (object comes before with, not after share)
He shared me some food.
He shared some food with me. (share does not take a double object like give does)