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correct verb to be used with "aim"

English Language & Usage Asked by Mamen Peinador on December 11, 2020

is it correct to say to “meet aims”? I know we can say she fulfilled or achieved her aims , but can I also say ” she met her aims”?

2 Answers

aim is a verb and I am inclined to say further that it is first a verb and has later (perhaps recently) taken on the noun function of "goal." To me, "aim" as a noun, especially plural possessive, like her aims, smacks of buzzword neologism. But anyway.

If you take aim at a target and launch something or drive something or someone towards it [the target, or goal], you are either accurate and you hit your aim, or you are inaccurate and you miss. But it might be safe to just employ something along the lines of, "She achieved her goals" or "He met his target".

Answered by Carly on December 11, 2020

I feel to some extent this is just a personal preference but to my ears 'she met her aims' would be an unusual construction for a native speaker of British English.

Perhaps the reason it sounds odd is that by definition an 'aim' is something you never actually meet. It's always ahead of you. I would say 'she achieved her ambitions', 'she met her targets', 'she fulfilled her plans', 'she attained her objectives', all those sound natural to me, but 'she met her aims' doesn't. However it isn't formally incorrect and if you did say it to me I would know exactly what you meant, so I wouldn't worry too much about it ;)

I would say 'she met her mother', 'she met her fate' and 'she met her match'. Those are all idiomatic and sound natural. I'm English living in England, others may differ on this one.

Answered by Sprog on December 11, 2020

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