basically

«basically» in Mova's school dictionary: in the most important way, when you think about the main… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb

meaning for a pupil

1) Basically means in the most important way, when you think about the main idea. tree →

2) Basically is often used to sum up or explain simply: «Basically, we lost.» tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday speech it is a common filler to sum things up. In school writing pupils use it to give the main idea, though in formal writing «in short» or «mainly» is better. It tells the reader that the speaker is simplifying.

examples

• Basically, a plant needs light, water and air. tree →
• The two games are basically the same. tree →
• Basically, I forgot my homework. tree →
• A tadpole is basically a baby frog. tree →
• The plan is basically to walk to the park and have a picnic. tree →
• It's basically a bigger version of a tricycle. tree →

note

Spelled with «-ally»: basically (not «basicly»). From «basic». Don't use it in every sentence: it can make speech sound vague.

In the corpora

• Words ending in -ic add -ally: basically, dramatically; «publicly» is the exception.
• «We're both adopted, so we're basically twins,» she jokes.

Trees and pragmatics

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