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subsidy meaning and examples

2025-08-31

Meaning

A subsidy is money given (usually by a government, organization, or institution) to support an industry, activity, or group of people. It is intended to reduce costs, encourage certain behavior, or make services more affordable.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Noun (countable, plural: subsidies)

  • Used to refer to financial support or aid.

  • Common structure:

    • government subsidy for/to something
    • receive a subsidy
    • cut/reduce/increase subsidies

Common Phrases

  • government subsidy – financial aid provided by the state.
  • agricultural subsidy – money given to farmers to support production.
  • fuel subsidy – financial aid to reduce fuel costs.
  • subsidy program – an official plan to provide financial assistance.

Collocations

  • verb + subsidy: receive a subsidy, provide a subsidy, grant a subsidy, cut subsidies, eliminate subsidies
  • adjective + subsidy: generous subsidy, large subsidy, government subsidy, agricultural subsidy
  • subsidy + noun: subsidy policy, subsidy program, subsidy scheme

Examples

  1. The government provides subsidies to farmers to stabilize food prices.
  2. Many countries offer fuel subsidies to make transportation more affordable.
  3. The company received a subsidy from the city to expand its factory.
  4. Several industries depend heavily on government subsidies.
  5. The education ministry announced new subsidy programs for low-income families.
  6. Environmental groups argue that fossil fuel subsidies should be eliminated.
  7. The government has cut subsidies for luxury housing projects.
  8. Without subsidies, small farmers would struggle to survive.
  • financial aid
  • grant
  • allowance
  • assistance
  • support
  • funding