Deport means to send a foreign national out of a country by official order. To use deport in a sentence, put the authority or the order first and the person second: “The court ordered the state to deport the visitor.” The verb is transitive, and the usual passive is was deported.
Deport at a glance
- Deport is a transitive verb; its forms are deports, deported, deporting and the noun deportation.
- The main sense is to send a foreign national out of a country by legal order.
- A second, formal sense means to conduct oneself, as in deport oneself well; it survives mainly in deportment.
- The usual subjects are a government, a court, a judge or an immigration authority.
- The commonest error is confusing deport with depose, which means to remove someone from office.
What does deport mean?
Deport is a transitive verb meaning to send a foreign national out of a country by official order. The Cambridge entry for deport records the legal removal sense, and it also lists an older, formal sense in which a person deports themselves, meaning behaves in a stated manner. That second sense now survives mostly in the noun deportment, so modern writers meet deport almost always in reports of immigration decisions. Where the person is sent away from a place rather than a country, exile is the closer, more literary verb.
| Sense | Plain meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Expel a non-citizen | Send a foreign national out by official order | The tribunal moved to deport the two sailors. |
| Enforce removal | Carry out removal once the legal process ends | Officials deported him after the final hearing. |
| Conduct oneself | Behave in a stated manner (formal, rare) | He deported himself with quiet dignity at the ceremony. |
One limitation matters. Deport is a legal term, not a general word for moving abroad. People emigrate or relocate by choice, but only a state deports. It also differs from denying entry, because deportation ends a stay that had already begun. Where a person leaves willingly, use leave or depart, and reserve deport for the imposed removal.
How do you use deport in a sentence?
Deport is transitive, so it always needs a person or group as its object. The active voice names the authority doing the removing, while the passive keeps attention on the person removed. A court that acts against a foreign national may also expel a member from an organisation, though that verb applies to groups rather than countries.
| Pattern | Example | What it signals |
|---|---|---|
| authority + deport + person | The agency deported the group overnight. | Names who carried out the removal. |
| deport + person + from + place | They deported her from the country in March. | Adds the territory a person is removed from. |
| be deported | He was deported after the ruling. | Passive; the person affected becomes the focus. |
| order + person + to be deported | The judge ordered the man to be deported. | Reports a legal decision rather than an act. |
| deport + oneself + adverb | She deported herself with composure. | The rare conduct sense and its reflexive frame. |
Register matters here more than grammar. Deportation appears in news reports, court rulings and policy documents; in ordinary conversation, speakers usually say sent back or removed. A sentence that uses deport about a holidaymaker who overstayed a visa is precise, but one that uses it about a traveller changing plans is simply wrong.
Deport in a sentence: examples across contexts
Deport sits at the formal end of its family. The ten sentences below keep the same legal verb while moving from a news report to a history essay, and each one shows who ordered the removal and who was removed. Reports sometimes use transport for the physical journey, but only deport carries the legal decision.
| Context | Example sentence | Why this works |
|---|---|---|
| News report | The government moved to deport the three workers after the inquiry. | Names the authority and the people affected. |
| Legal writing | The court ruled that the ministry could not deport the appellant immediately. | Frames the removal as a legal power under review. |
| Government notice | Officials will deport anyone who overstays the visa by ninety days. | States a rule and its trigger in one line. |
| History essay | The regime deported thousands of families during the 1930s. | Uses the verb with a scale and a dated period. |
| Letter to an official | Please confirm whether you intend to deport my client before the hearing. | Turns the verb into a request for a decision. |
| Academic prose | States that deport non-citizens may breach treaty obligations. | Places the verb inside an analytical claim. |
| Human rights report | Authorities deported the family without allowing them to appeal. | Adds a procedural detail that carries the concern. |
| Workplace news | The company flew out staff before the new rules could deport them. | Shows the verb shaping a real business decision. |
| Conversation | He was deported last spring and has not been allowed back. | The passive names the person as the topic. |
| Editorial | To deport a child who has lived here all her life is a hard policy. | Uses the infinitive to argue a case plainly. |
Deport vs banish and exile
Deport overlaps with banish and exile, and the three are not interchangeable. Deport is the legal, administrative act of removing a non-citizen; banish is the older, harsher act of driving someone out as a punishment; exile can be either imposed or chosen and often implies a long stay away.
| Attribute | deport | banish | exile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core meaning | Remove a non-citizen by legal order | Drive someone out as punishment | Send or keep someone away from home |
| Typical subject | A government, court or agency | A ruler, king or community | A regime, or the person themselves |
| Who is affected | A foreign national | Anyone, often a citizen | Anyone, including a volunteer |
| Register | Legal and administrative | Literary and historical | Literary and emotional |
| Implied duration | Removal now, return may be barred | Permanent expulsion | Often long, sometimes chosen |
Verdict: choose deport for a state removing a foreign national under the law, banish for a dramatic and permanent expulsion in older or figurative writing, and exile when the emphasis falls on life away from home rather than on the order that sent someone there.
Word forms and grammar of deport
Deport inflects regularly, and its noun deportation is the form that dominates the news. The related noun deportment looks like a sibling but now means bearing or conduct, not removal, so the two are false friends for learners.
| Form | Part of speech | Example |
|---|---|---|
| deport | verb, base form | They may deport him next week. |
| deports | verb, third person singular | The state deports few long-term residents. |
| deported | verb, past and past participle | She was deported in June. |
| deporting | verb, present participle | They are deporting people faster this year. |
| deportation | noun | Deportation ended the family stay. |
| deportee | noun | The deportee waited for a new hearing. |
| deportment | noun, different meaning | Her deportment impressed the panel. |
Common mistakes with deport
- Incorrect:
The minister deported from office after the scandal.Correct: The minister was removed from office after the scandal. Rule: Deport sends a non-citizen out of a country; the word for removing an official is the confusable depose. - Incorrect:
He decided to deport to another country.Correct: He decided to emigrate to another country. Rule: Deport is imposed by an authority and is transitive, so a person cannot deport themselves in the removal sense. - Incorrect:
The police deported the tenant from the flat.Correct: The landlord had the tenant evicted from the flat. Rule: Deport applies to a country, while evict applies to property. - Incorrect:
They deported him from the country to leave.Correct: They deported him from the country. Rule: The verb already contains the idea of being sent out, so to leave is redundant. - Incorrect:
She was deporting with dignity.Correct: She deported herself with dignity. Rule: The conduct sense is reflexive and formal, and it takes an adverb.
Practice using deport
Work through the seven items, then read the reasoning rather than only the answer.
- Fill the gap: The tribunal decided to ______ the witness once the case closed.
- Choose the better word: After the vote, the council tried to (deport / depose) its own chair.
- Correct the error: He deport from the country last year.
- Build a sentence: use be deported in the passive about a sailor who lost an appeal.
- Spot the register: which belongs in a court filing – the state may deport the appellant, or the state might kick him out?
- Rewrite in the active voice: The family was deported by the authorities. Name the authorities.
- Replace with the noun: Officials deported the brothers last week. Use deportation instead.
Answers
- deport – the tribunal is the authority and the witness is the object.
- depose – removing an official from office is depose, not deport.
- He was deported from the country last year – the passive needs was and the past participle.
- Model answer: The sailor was deported after his appeal failed.
- The state may deport the appellant – the filing keeps the precise legal verb.
- The authorities deported the family – the active voice names who acted.
- The brothers faced deportation last week – the noun fits the same frame.
The bottom line
Use deport in a sentence for the legal removal of a foreign national, and name the authority that orders it and the person it affects. The two details that decide most sentences are that deport is transitive, so something must always be deported, and that it applies to countries rather than homes or offices. Keep it clear of depose, which removes an official from a post, and of banish and exile, which are older, more literary words.
Frequently asked questions about deport
Is deport always about leaving a country?
In modern use, yes. Deport almost always means that an authority sends a foreign national out of a country, and it implies a legal order rather than a personal choice. The older sense of behaving oneself survives mainly in the noun deportment, so a reader who meets deport today can safely assume it concerns removal from a country.
What is the noun form of deport?
The usual noun is deportation, as in the deportation was stayed by the court. The person removed is a deportee, and the adjective deportable describes someone who can legally be removed. Deportment looks related but means bearing or conduct, so it is not the noun of this verb in ordinary use.
What is the difference between deport and banish?
Deport is an administrative and legal act that removes a non-citizen from a country. Banish is older and harsher, describing a punishment that drives someone out of a community, and it can apply to citizens. Deportation follows rules and hearings; banishment is an exercise of power.
Can a citizen be deported?
A citizen of a country cannot normally be deported from it, because deportation removes people who are not citizens. Citizens may instead face prosecution, or in rare historical cases be exiled or banished. The word therefore usually signals that the person affected has a different nationality from the state acting.
