Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Grammar Videos
(ordered by category) Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
Marinade or Marinate?
What Is the Difference between "Marinade" and "Marinate"?
"Marinade" and "marinate" are easy to confuse because they sound similar and both relate to soaking food in a sauce. Knowing which to use requires a little bit of grammar knowledge because "marinade" is a noun (it means "sauce"), and "marinate" is a verb (it means "to soak in a marinade").- "Marinade" is a sauce used to soak food before cooking.
- Soak the chicken in the marinade overnight.
- "Marinate" (or "to marinate") means "to soak food in a marinade." It is a verb.
- Marinate the chicken overnight.

More about "Marinade" and "Marinate"
The words "marinade" and "marinate" are confused so often that the distinction between them is blurring.Marinade
The word "marinade" means "a sauce in which food is soaked before cooking."Example sentences with "marinade":
- A good marinade makes foods tastier, juicier, healthier, and more tender.
- With a marinade, the combination of oil, acid, and flavor protects foods from the heat of the grill.
- Marinade the meat for at least 24 hours before cooking. (We can't bring ourselves to give this a tick, but it is acceptable to use "marinade" as a verb nowadays.)

This graph from Google's Ngram viewer shows the recent rise of "marinade" as a verb.
Marinate
The word "marinate" is a verb. It means "to soak in a marinade."Example sentences with "marinate":
- We need to marinate the meat before tomorrow.
- Marinating is a great way to intensify the flavour of food with just a few basic ingredients.
- He marinates his lamb before grilling it. (This is the verb "to marinate" in the simple present tense.)
- It was marinating for 2 days. (Here, "marinating" is the present participle.)
- It was marinated before grilling. (Here, "marinated" is the past participle.)

Meat marinating in a marinade
Ready for the Test?
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.