Can I use the word DOMINATE?

[tileeba]

Hello!

We have a project to help Brazilians learn Phrasal Verbs (TIM AND TAMMY TEACH). In one of my texts I wrote that I would help them DOMINATE phrasal verbs. Someone wrote and said that I couldn't use the word "dominate"; I could only use the word "master". What do you think? Is it permissible to use the word "dominate" when speaking about mastering a very difficult subject? I sort of meant it as "conquer", "command", "gain control of", etc.

[rewboss]

No: "to dominate" means literally "to rule over" or "to govern"; as a metaphor, it can mean "to overshadow" to "to characterize" -- for example, "The cooling towers of the power station dominated the landscape."

In the sense you want it to mean, "to master" is the correct choice.

[tileeba]

Thank you for your answer, rewboss; but just for the sake of argument, how about these definitions of "dominate"? -

==> To control, govern, or rule by superior authority or power: Successful leaders dominate events rather than react to them.

==> To have or exert strong authority or mastery.

The American Heritage Dictionary

[rewboss]

Both those meanings refer to the literal meaning of "dominate": to rule over, as a lord rules over his subjects. In the first case it really is a lord or some other ruler, and in the second case it is person acting like a lord.

A domineering person is a person who orders other people around.