amazing
part of speech
adjective (amazing, more amazing, most amazing); also -ing form of amaze (amaze, amazes, amazed, amazing); adverb: amazingly
meaning for a pupil
1) Very surprising and wonderful; causing great wonder or surprise. tree →
2) (informal) Very good, excellent (an amazing film). tree →
3) -ing form of «amaze»: surprising someone greatly. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday talk it is a very common word for praise: amazing work, an amazing trip. In writing lessons teachers ask for stronger, more exact adjectives than «amazing» and «nice» (astonishing, breathtaking, incredible, spectacular). In science, amazing facts are a hook — but check they are true. Phrases: absolutely amazing, it's amazing how/what, amazing grace.
examples
- The fireworks were amazing! tree →
- You did an amazing job on your poster. tree →
- It's amazing how fast a cheetah can run. tree →
- The view from the top was amazing. tree →
- She has an amazing memory for numbers. tree →
- Amazingly, the cat came home after two weeks. tree →
- Instead of «amazing», try «breathtaking» or «astonishing» in your story. tree →
- The sixth time the King exclaimed, ‘It is amazing!’ tree →
note
«Amazing» (causing wonder) vs «amazed» (feeling wonder): The trick was amazing; I was amazed. Overusing «amazing» makes writing weaker — choose more exact words. Adverb: amazingly.
In the corpora
- A real bite gives nobody powers, but real spiders do have amazing versions of all three.
- Eagles are big birds of prey: hunters with hooked beaks, huge feet and amazing eyes.
- Cartoons are fun because they bend the truth, but behind each one is a real animal with its own amazing story.
- wa («wah!», high and long) means wow, said just like in English when something is amazing.
- Two days later she asks him, «Do you like drawing?» — he shows her a notebook of amazing robots.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «amazing» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.