both
part of speech
determiner, pronoun (both, both of); conjunction (both … and)
meaning for a pupil
1) Both means the two of them together, not just one: both hands. tree →
2) «Both … and» joins two things that are true together: both tall and strong. tree →
3) (casual) «Both of yous» or «yous both» (Ireland, Australia, parts of UK) means «you two». tree →
4) (rough) «Both of you, out!» or «You're both as bad as each other» tells off two people together. tree →
5) (formal) The exam voice says «each of the two», «the pair», «jointly», «the two aforementioned». tree →
sense in the lessons
two things that act the same way, or two parts counted together («how many do they have both together?» = add); «both have 5 each» = 2 groups of 5; in everyday life «both of us», «use both hands», «both sides of the road», «look both ways»; in casual talk «yous both», in rough talk «both of you, shut it»; in the exam voice «jointly», «in combination», «each of the two pupils»
examples
- «How many more … than» and «how many fewer … than» both ask for the difference: subtract. tree →
- Ana has 6 shells and Ben has 4. How many shells do they have both together? tree →
- Both boys have 5 cards each. tree →
- Hold the cup with both hands. tree →
- Both my parents work in a hospital. tree →
- She is both clever and kind. tree →
- Look both ways before you cross. tree →
- Both of the puppies are asleep. tree →
- Right, both of yous, in the car now! tree →
- You're both as bad as each other, stop fighting over 2 crisps. tree →
- Determine the number of shells held jointly by the two pupils, given that Ana holds 6 and Ben holds 4. tree →
- They both bent over the corpse. tree →
note
«both … together» asks for a total of two parts: add; «jointly» and «in combination» in an exam mean the same. Trap: «both have 5 each» is two equal groups: 2 × 5. «Both» always means exactly two; for more than two use «all». «yous» is a casual plural «you», common in Ireland and Australia, not standard in writing.
In the corpora
- Both are normal ways to live.
- Important translations should be checked by a person who speaks both languages.
- Headlines about AI can exaggerate in both directions, overhyping or overscaring, so it is wise to read beyond the headline.
- In The Lion King musical the puppets are designed so you see both the actor and the animal.
- Reindeer are the only deer in which both males and females usually grow antlers.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «both» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.