Prepositions · CEFR B1
“Discuss about” or “discuss”? Is “discuss about” correct?
Incorrect
discuss about
Correct
discuss
Say “discuss something”, with no preposition: “We discussed the plan.” “Discuss about” is a very common mistake. If you want about, use talk about or have a discussion about.
The rule
Discuss is a transitive verb - the topic comes directly after it: discuss the problem, discuss what to do.
The noun discussion does take about: “We had a discussion about the budget.”
Examples
✗ Let’s discuss about the project.
✓ Let’s discuss the project.
✗ We discussed about it yesterday.
✓ We discussed it yesterday.
✗ They discussed about how to fix it.
✓ They talked about how to fix it.
talk about is fine
Why learners make this mistake
Learners transfer the pattern from talk about and speak about, and many languages use a preposition with their equivalent verb.
Remember
Discuss = talk about. Only one “about” is needed, and discuss already has it built in.
Frequently asked questions
- What other verbs don’t need a preposition?
- Common ones are enter (a room), approach (someone), reach (a place), and marry (someone).
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