beg
part of speech
verb (beg, begs, begged, begging)
meaning for a pupil
1) To ask someone very strongly, again and again, for something you want a lot. tree →
2) To ask strangers for money or food because you are poor. tree →
3) Of a dog: to sit up with its front paws raised, hoping for food or a treat. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life, children beg parents for a treat or a later bedtime; good manners say ask once politely rather than begging. In stories, a character begs for mercy or begs someone to stay, which shows strong feeling or fear. Phrases: «beg for», «beg someone to do something», «I beg your pardon» (a polite «sorry» or «what did you say?»), «beg for mercy».
examples
- We begged Mum to let us stay up for the fireworks. tree →
- The dog begged for a piece of my sandwich. tree →
- "Please, please, please," she begged. tree →
- A man was begging for coins outside the station. tree →
- The prisoner begged for mercy. tree →
- I beg your pardon — I didn't hear you. tree →
- He begged his friend not to tell the teacher. tree →
- Our puppy has learned to sit up and beg. tree →
- "Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. tree →
note
Past form doubles the g: begged, begging. «I beg your pardon» is polite and means «Sorry?» or «Excuse me». Begging is asking, not taking; it is different from stealing. Do not feed a begging dog food that is bad for dogs, like chocolate or grapes.
In the corpora
- The Dodo presents the thimble with "We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble", and they all cheer.
- Soft and ashamed, he begs for his shell back.
- Chee!» The Woman jumps onto a footstool and begs the Cat to eat it.
- The Wife begs him to bring it back; he stamps again, and the Palace comes down without a bump.
- Ruby's friend in Glasgow had been hurting herself on purpose and begged, «Promise me, Rubes.» Ruby was terrified.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «beg» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.