child
part of speech
noun (child, children; casual: kid, kids)
meaning for a pupil
1) A child is a young boy or girl. tree →
2) A child is someone's son or daughter, at any age: Grandma has three children. Children means more than one child. tree →
3) (casual) «Kid», «kiddo», «nipper» (UK), «ankle-biter» and «rug rat» (Australia, US, joking) are chatty words for a child. tree →
4) (rough) «Don't be such a child» or «stop acting like a child» is a put-down meaning you are being silly or babyish. tree →
5) (formal) The exam voice and official notices say «minor», «juvenile», «pupil», «dependant», «persons under the age of 12». tree →
sense in the lessons
the people things are shared between («shared between 8 children» = divide by 8), or a group being counted; «each child» asks for one share; in everyday life «only child», «children's books», «childcare»; in safety rules for children near roads and water; in casual talk «kids», «the kids»; in rough talk «stop being a child»; in official and exam voice «minors», «pupils», «persons under 12»
examples
- 32 cards are shared between 8 children equally. How many does each child get? tree →
- There are 4 tables with 5 children at each table. tree →
- 6 children were in the park and 3 more came. tree →
- Every child in the class got a sticker. tree →
- My aunt has two children, a boy and a girl. tree →
- Children under 12 must wear a helmet. tree →
- When Dad was a child, he lived on a farm. tree →
- The children laughed at the clown. tree →
- 12 kids at the party, sorry, 13 with me tree →
- Oh, stop acting like a child and share them. tree →
- Minors must be accompanied by an adult at all times. tree →
- Thirty-two cards are apportioned equally among eight minors; state the allocation per minor. tree →
- All children, except one, grow up. tree →
note
Plural is «children», not «childs». When sharing, the number of children is the number of shares: divide; «each child» asks for one share. Trap: children can also be the counted thing, as in «how many children are there». In a self-correction («12 kids, sorry, 13 with me») the last number said counts: 13. «kid» is fine in chat; «minor» and «pupil» are the official words.
In the corpora
- When a parent seems frazzled after work, it is usually the workload, not anything the child did.
- Pocket money is a small regular amount given to children to practise choosing, saving and making mistakes with money.
- Some families pay children for extra jobs, like washing the car, but tidying your own room is just part of living together.
- Child benefit is a small regular payment from the government to families with children, to help with things like shoes and food.
- Banks offer children's accounts to keep savings safe and teach how banks work.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «child» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.