ABCcount

emigrate vs. immigrate

One person making one move can be described with either word, depending on where the writer is standing. Someone who leaves Ireland for Canada emigrated from Ireland and immigrated to Canada. The prefixes carry the direction, and once you notice that, the pair stops being confusing.

emigrate

A verb. To leave your own country to settle permanently elsewhere. Pairs with "from."

  • Her family emigrated from Poland in 1981.
  • He emigrated at nineteen and never returned.
  • Thousands emigrated during the famine years.
  • She emigrated from Brazil — the focus is the country left behind.

immigrate

A verb. To come into a country to settle permanently. Pairs with "to."

  • They immigrated to Australia after the war.
  • He immigrated in 2004 and was naturalised in 2010.
  • The family immigrated to Canada from Vietnam.
  • She immigrated to Brazil — same move as above, viewed from the destination.

Quick way to remember

Look at the prefix. "E-" means out, as in exit — you emigrate out of a place. "Im-" means in, as in import — you immigrate into one. Whichever preposition the sentence uses, "from" or "to," will tell you which word belongs.