attend

The word “attend” means to be present at an event, class, or place. In plain terms, to be present somewhere, to look after someone, or to pay close attention — the sense depends on context.

“Attend” is pronounced uh-TEHND (/əˈtɛnd/ in IPA).

Here is “attend” used in a sentence: “Over two hundred guests attended the wedding.”

“Attend” is a verb.

The word “attend” comes from Latin. From Old French atendre, "to await, pay attention to," from Latin attendere, literally "to stretch toward.".

“Attend” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Attend” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to be present at an event, class, or place.

To attend something means to be present at it, such as attending a meeting or a wedding. To attend to something means to deal with it or take care of it, as in attending to a customer or attending to your duties. The extra word 'to' changes the meaning entirely.

Not anymore. Traditionally, attending meant showing up in person at a place or event. Today you can also attend virtually — joining a class, meeting, or concert online counts as attending. The core idea is participation and presence, whether you are physically there or connected remotely.

You might say, 'I attend college three days a week,' or 'Hundreds of people attended the funeral.' It commonly pairs with events, institutions, and gatherings — school, church, a conference, a concert, or a ceremony. In each case, attend simply means the person was there and took part.

Attend is slightly formal but perfectly ordinary in everyday use. In casual speech people often say 'go to' instead — 'I went to the concert' rather than 'I attended the concert.' Both are correct; attend just sounds a little more polished and is common in writing, invitations, and official contexts.