hand out

Meaning

To distribute items to a group of people, typically by hand. In academic settings, it refers to teachers or presenters distributing worksheets, exams, syllabus sheets, or informative materials to students or attendees.

Examples

• The teaching assistant will hand out the exam papers at the beginning of the lecture.

  The teaching assistant will hand out the exam papers at the beginning of the lecture.

• Could you help me hand these reading materials out to everyone in the seminar room?

  Could you help me hand these reading materials out to everyone in the seminar room?

• The professor handed out the syllabus on the first day of class and explained the grading policy.

  The professor handed out the syllabus on the first day of class and explained the grading policy.

• Before the presentation started, the guest speaker handed out a summary of her research.

  Before the presentation started, the guest speaker handed out a summary of her research.

• They are going to hand out the certificates of attendance at the end of the workshop.

  They are going to hand out the certificates of attendance at the end of the workshop.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The teacher handed the homework out of the students.

  ✓ The teacher handed out the homework to the students.

  We hand things out *to* people, not *of* them. Alternatively, you can use 'hand the students the homework' without 'out'.

• ✗ Please hand out them now.

  ✓ Please hand them out now.

  When the object of a separable phrasal verb is a pronoun (like 'them' or 'it'), it must go between the verb and the particle.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The instructor asked me to ___ out the worksheets to the class.

  💡 A phrasal verb meaning to distribute.

  Show answer

  hand

• She handed the essay prompts ___ to all the students in the front row.

  💡 The particle that completes the phrasal verb for distributing.

  Show answer

  out