agent
part of speech
noun (an agent, agents)
meaning for a pupil
1) An agent is a person whose job is to act for someone else, such as a travel agent, an estate agent or a football player's agent. tree →
2) A secret agent is a spy who works secretly for a country. tree →
3) In science, an agent is something that causes a change: a cleaning agent, a raising agent in baking. tree →
4) A free agent is someone who can do what they like, not tied to anyone. tree →
5) A character in an old tale, human or supernatural, can be an agent who makes things happen. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories secret agents go on missions and use gadgets. In everyday life people visit a travel agent to book holidays or an estate agent to buy a house. In science and cooking, baking powder is a raising agent that makes cakes rise. Phrases: travel agent, estate agent (UK), real estate agent (USA), secret agent, free agent, cleaning agent.
examples
- The secret agent sent a coded message. tree →
- We booked our holiday through a travel agent. tree →
- The estate agent showed us around the house. tree →
- The famous player's agent asked for more money. tree →
- Baking powder is a raising agent. tree →
- Bleach is a strong cleaning agent, so keep it away from children. tree →
- Now that school is over, I'm a free agent. tree →
- I'm kind of a house agent, also a manager of funerals. tree →
note
"An agent" (it starts with a vowel sound). Plural: agents. Agency = the company an agent works for. The g is soft like j: "AY-jent".
In the corpora
- An estate agent helps sell houses, and viewings are when people who might buy come to look round.
- Toad describes his house like an estate agent's advert: «an eligible self-contained gentleman's residence very unique ...
- Running water is the most powerful agent of erosion on Earth.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «agent» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.