specific

«specific» in Mova's judaism dictionary: exact, particular and clear, about one certain thing and… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (specific; specifically — adverb); noun (specifics — exact details)

meaning for a pupil

1) Specific means exact, particular and clear, about one certain thing and not things in general: a specific time, a specific example. tree →

2) Specific to something means belonging only to that thing or place: plants specific to the rainforest. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school, teachers ask pupils to be specific in writing and answers — name the exact thing, number or reason instead of a vague one («the dog» not «it»; «at 3 o'clock» not «later»). In science, «specific» describes a precise feature of one kind of thing. In everyday safety, when calling for help, give specific information: the exact address and what happened. Phrases: be specific, a specific example, specific to, nothing specific.

examples

• Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• Can you give me a specific example? tree →
• Please be specific — which book do you mean? tree →
• We meet at a specific time, 9 o'clock sharp. tree →
• Kangaroos are specific to Australia and New Guinea. tree →
• When you call 911, say the specific address. tree →
• I'm not looking for anything specific, just browsing. tree →
• The recipe asks for a specific kind of flour. tree →
• The specific actions of the two waters are described with great precision in this story. tree →

note

Adjective. Adverb: specifically. Opposite: general or vague. Spelling: spe-ci-fic. In maths, «specific» numbers make an answer clearer: «about 50» is less specific than «48».

In the corpora

• Asking for a joke about something very specific, like your own hamster, pushes a bot away from the oldest jokes.
• Useful feedback is kind, specific and helpful: it names something that works and one clear thing to improve.
• Parents often praise everything because they love you, even when the praise is not specific.
• Peer feedback means a classmate reads your work and suggests improvements; useful feedback is kind, specific and helpful.
• A good compliment is specific and true.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «specific» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.