chat

«chat» in Mova's school dictionary: to talk in a friendly, relaxed way — 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

verb (chat, chats, chatted, chatting); noun (a chat, chats); adjective chatty

meaning for a pupil

1) To chat means to talk in a friendly, relaxed way. tree →

2) A chat is a friendly, informal talk. tree →

3) A chat is also writing messages to each other online, in an app or game, in real time. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life friends chat at break time; families chat over dinner. In online safety lessons «chat» means messages in games and apps: only chat with people you know in real life, never share personal information (address, school, photos), and tell an adult if anyone in a chat makes you feel uncomfortable or asks you to keep secrets. Phrases: have a chat, chat with, chat room, chat online, group chat.

examples

• We chatted about our holidays at lunchtime. tree →
• Mum and I had a long chat before bed. tree →
• Grandma loves a chat on the phone. tree →
• Only chat online with people you know in real life. tree →
• If someone in the game chat is mean, block them and tell an adult. tree →
• Stop chatting and start your work, please. tree →
• Our class has a group chat for homework help. tree →
• The teacher wants a quick chat with your dad. tree →
• They sat down for a bit and chatted. tree →

note

Double the «t»: chatted, chatting. «Chat with» or «chat to» someone. A chat is informal; a meeting or discussion is more serious. People online are not always who they say they are.

In the corpora

• Neighbours sometimes disagree about hedges, fences, noise or rubbish, and most disputes are solved by a friendly chat.
• What he can see is teenagers chatting after school.
• Breakfast-show presenters are paid professionals working from a running order and an earpiece; the friendly chat is planned.
• Stars go on chat shows mainly to promote a new film, book or tour, and their funny stories are often practised beforehand.
• Parents may ask to see the chat or the TV history to understand what happened and fix it, not to spy.

Trees and pragmatics

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