damage your health

Meaning

This phrase refers to doing things that have a harmful, negative, or destructive effect on your physical or mental well-being. It is often used when warning someone about bad habits like smoking, poor diet, or chronic stress.

Examples

• Working eighty hours a week will eventually damage your health.

  Working eighty hours a week will eventually damage your health.

• Everyone knows that eating too much processed food can damage your health.

  Everyone knows that eating too much processed food can damage your health.

• You need to find a way to manage stress before it seriously damages your health.

  You need to find a way to manage stress before it seriously damages your health.

• Lack of sleep doesn't just make you tired; it can permanently damage your health.

  Lack of sleep doesn't just make you tired; it can permanently damage your health.

• She decided to quit her high-stress job because it was starting to damage her health.

  She decided to quit her high-stress job because it was starting to damage her health.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Smoking can harm to your health.

  ✓ Smoking can damage your health.

  'Damage' is used directly with 'your health'. If you use 'harm', it can be a verb ('harm your health') or a noun in the phrase 'do harm to your health', but 'harm to' as a verb is incorrect.

• ✗ Bad habits will make damage to your health.

  ✓ Bad habits will damage your health.

  'Damage' is used as a direct verb here. If you use it as a noun, the correct collocation is 'cause damage to' or 'do damage to', not 'make damage'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Eating too much junk food and never exercising will eventually ___.

  💡 Cause physical harm to your body and well-being over time.

  Show answer

  damage your health

• You need to manage your stress levels before they seriously ___.

  💡 Negatively impact your mental or physical well-being.

  Show answer

  damage your health