third-person singular verb
He, she, or it gives money, time, effort, ideas, or other help to a person, group, project, or cause.
Maria contributes money to the local shelter every month.
Each volunteer contributes time to the community garden.
American English
How to pronounce contributes
verbB1Common word
kʰnTʰRIHByoots
/kʰn̩ˈtʰɹɪb.juts/
3 syllables · Stress the second syllable.
Form of contribute
He, she, or it gives money, time, effort, ideas, or other help to a person, group, project, or cause.
What to listen for
Say the first syllable lightly, with the main stress on the second syllable: /kʰn̩ˈtʰɹɪb.juts/.
Meanings & examples
third-person singular verb
He, she, or it helps cause a result or situation, usually together with other people or things.
His careless driving contributes to the high accident rate.
Lack of sleep contributes to her stress.
third-person singular verb
He, she, or it writes an article or other material for a newspaper, magazine, website, or similar publication.
She contributes articles to a technology website.
He contributes a weekly column to the newspaper.
Related words & forms
The past form is contributed, and the -ing form is contributing. Do not write *contributted or *contributeing.