Coping with difficult situations

The idea

Use cope with before the difficulty, or cope alone when the context is clear.

Examples

• We coped with the delay by sharing tasks.
• Can the library cope with more visitors?
• Our team is coping well after the move.
• The garden coped with a dry summer.
• They found new ways to cope with stress.
• The small kitchen cannot cope with large orders.

Watch out

Do not put a direct object after cope: use cope with the delay.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the correct form. The clinic coped ___ the sudden demand. (with / to)

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   with

   with introduces the demand.

2. Choose the correct form. Yesterday the volunteers ___ despite the rain. (coped / cope)

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   coped

   coped is the past form used for yesterday.

3. Choose the correct form. The system can ___ with extra traffic. (cope / copes)

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   cope

   cope follows the modal can in its base form.

Use it today

Describe a change and how a group managed it.