Success

have success

I’ve been looking for a job some time now, but I haven’t had much success in finding one.

make success

Liz needs to pull her socks up and work harder if she is going to make a success of her career.

wish success

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you every success in your new job.

owe success

How do you account for the success of brands like Coke and Nike?

>They owe their success to good advertising.

achieve success

My efforts to become an actor have met with little success, but my brother has achieved success beyond his wildest dreams. He’s now filming in Hollywood.

attribute success

What do you put your success down to?

>I attribute my success to hard work and, of course a little luck.

prove success

The novel proved such a success that the author quickly followed it up with another, based on the same characters.

guarantee success

This treatment can’t guarantee success, but at least 70% of women who have used it have seen significant loss of weight in the first three months.

degrees of success

I’ve tried a number of different medicines, with varying degrees of success.

chance of success

The doctors told us that the operation only has a fifty-fifty chance of success.

key of success

Confidence is the key of all success.

measure of success

We’ve achieved some measure of success with our new product range.

taste of success

They are still enjoying the sweet taste of success after their championship win.

sign of success

The opening of two new outlets in the town is yet another sign of the continuing success of the supermarket chain.

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The party was a spectacular success. A good time was had by all.

Mr Hughes, to what do you ascribe the phenomenal success of your new play? Was it the production?

His latest novel is already a roaring success. It’s sold over three thousand copies in a week.

The good weather helped to make the occasion a resounding success. There wasn’t a drop of rain.

Abba have enjoyed success on a scale unparalleled by any previous pop group. Expect the Beatles, of course.

The World Cup theme tune ‘Nessun Dorma’ has proved an out-and-out success. Nobody quite knows why.

 

Notes

• Note the different verbs we use to say that something is considered a success:

The evening was deemed a success by everyone.

The play was an overnight success. It was rated a success after only one performance.

The event was voted a success and it is now certain that it will be held again next year.

The new scheme has been hailed as a success by the general public.

• Note the expression ‘without success’.

I tried to ring him, but without success.

• Books, films, pop groups can be ‘an immediate success’ or ‘an overnight success’.
• Operations have a ‘success rate’:

The success rate for this operation is 90%.

• If a play or a film is a ‘box-office success’, lots of people go to see it.
• You may want to ask someone:

What is the secret of your success?

• If you are the ‘victim of your own success’, something negative has accompanied your success:

Bill was the victim of his own success. As his company grew, he worked longer and longer hours until one day he just dropped dead – the richest man in the graveyard!