Zookeepers failed to catch animals.

Meaning: This sentence is about zookeepers who were not able to capture the animals that had escaped.

Choice of Words: Zookeepers are people who take care of animals in a zoo. Failed means to be unsuccessful in achieving something. To is used to indicate the purpose or intention of an action. Catch means to capture or seize something. Animals is a general term used to describe any living creature that is not a plant.

Alternative Expressions

Zookeepers couldn't trap animals.

Meaning: This means that the zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they were not successful. It's like saying, The zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they got away.

Choice of Words: Couldn't is a contraction of the words could and not. It means that the zookeepers were not able to do something. Trap means to catch or hold something in a place where it cannot escape. Animals are living things that are not plants. When you put these words together, it means that the zookeepers were not able to catch or hold the animals in a place where they could not escape.

The zookeepers did not succeed in apprehending the animals.

Meaning: This means that the zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they were not able to. It's like saying, The zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they escaped.

Choice of Words: Did not succeed means that the zookeepers did not accomplish their goal. Apprehend means to catch or arrest someone. Animals are living things that are not plants. When you put these words together, it means that the zookeepers did not catch or arrest the animals.

The zookeepers were unable to capture the animals.

Meaning: This means that the zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they were not able to. It's like saying, The zookeepers tried to catch the animals, but they got away.

Choice of Words: Unable means that the zookeepers did not have the ability or power to do something. Capture means to catch or take control of something. Animals are living things that are not plants. When you put these words together, it means that the zookeepers did not have the ability or power to catch or take control of the animals.

Related Expressions