attention

«attention» in Mova's school dictionary: when you listen, watch or think carefully about something — 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

noun (attention — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Attention is when you listen, watch or think carefully about something. tree →

2) Attention can mean interest or notice that people give you. tree →

3) Attention can mean care given to something, like medical attention. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school «pay attention» means listen and look carefully; teachers say «Attention, please!» to get everyone to listen. In safety, paying attention near roads, water and machines prevents accidents; a phone can take your attention away. «Medical attention» means a doctor's care. In everyday life some people do things to get attention, and «attention span» is how long you can focus. In the army, «Attention!» means stand straight.

examples

• Please pay attention to the instructions. tree →
• Can I have your attention, please? tree →
• The baby wanted attention and started crying. tree →
• Pay attention when you cross the road. tree →
• The cut needs medical attention. tree →
• His painting got a lot of attention. tree →
• She tried to attract the waiter's attention. tree →
• Read the question with attention to every number. tree →
• Whenever we appear we excite great attention. tree →

note

Uncountable: «attention», not «an attention». Common verbs: pay attention (to), get/attract/draw attention, catch someone's attention. Say «pay attention to», not «pay attention on». Adjective «attentive» = paying attention. In maths word problems, paying attention to small words like «each» and «left» changes the answer.

In the corpora

• Families make phone rules so meals are for talking, and adults find them hard to keep because phones are built to grab attention.
• Scary predictions online are usually nonsense meant to get attention.
• Focused practice means practising with full attention on one goal; watching the clock while repeating easy parts changes very little.
• If sitting brings a treat, the dog sits more; if jumping up brings attention, it jumps more.
• A headline is the title of a news story; it is short, bold and grabs attention.

Trees and pragmatics

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