The use of the verb 'avail'

Question

I was going through different entries in different dictionaries to see what 'avail' means. I wanted to see if the following is ok:

To avail this service, you may call on 0000000.

Can we use the verb 'avail' for getting a service? Is this sentence ok?

The "avail" part has already been answered (although it's rather an old-fashioned way of expressing it, and nowadays would more commonly be "To make use of this service" or "to obtain this service", depending on what the service is and what action the person is taking), but I have a suggestion for the rest of the sentence...I would use "can" rather than "may" as it implies ability rather than possibility, and "call us on" rather than "call on" to make the receiver of the call explicit: "To avail yourself of this service, call us on 0000000." — Fiona, Commented Oct 1, 2021 at 12:55

MikeB · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-01 11:52:27Z

3

You are half correct, I would write it as "To avail yourself of this service, ..."

I don't think many people would consider "avail" on itself to be normal usage.

answered Oct 1, 2021 at 11:52

MikeB

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