"Emigrate" is to leave your country; "immigrate" is to arrive in a new country.
To leave your home country to live in another. The movement is FROM a place.
Thousands of people emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine.
My grandparents emigrated from Italy in the 1950s to find better opportunities.
She decided to emigrate from her home country after years of political instability.
To arrive in a new country to live there. The movement is TO a place.
Over one million people immigrated to Canada last year alone.
His family immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s.
The government created new policies for people wishing to immigrate legally.
Common mistake
Confusing the point of reference: the same person EMIGRATES from their country and IMMIGRATES to the new country. They are two sides of the same coin. Key prepositions: "emigrate FROM" (leaving), "immigrate TO" (arriving).
Trick to remember it
The prepositions say it all: Emigrate FROM (E = Exit). Immigrate TO (I = In, entering). The same person can emigrate and immigrate simultaneously — it depends on which country you are referencing.
Quick rule
Emigrate = leave a country (FROM). Immigrate = arrive in a new country (TO). Same person, two different words depending on perspective.
Did you know?
The Latin prefix "e-/ex-" means "outward" and "im-/in-" means "inward". This logic appears in many English words: export/import, exhale/inhale, external/internal, exclude/include. Once you internalize this prefix rule, emigrate/immigrate will never confuse you again.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
My family _____ from Spain to Argentina three generations ago.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Over two million people _____ to Germany in the last decade.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Emigrate = leave a country (FROM). Immigrate = arrive in a new country (TO). Same person, two different words depending on perspective.
Confusing the point of reference: the same person EMIGRATES from their country and IMMIGRATES to the new country. They are two sides of the same coin. Key prepositions: "emigrate FROM" (leaving), "immigrate TO" (arriving).
The prepositions say it all: Emigrate FROM (E = Exit). Immigrate TO (I = In, entering). The same person can emigrate and immigrate simultaneously — it depends on which country you are referencing.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy