confess

«confess» in Mova's school dictionary: to admit that you did something wrong or something you… — 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 (confess, confesses, confessed, confessing)

meaning for a pupil

1) To confess is to admit that you did something wrong or something you are ashamed of. tree →

2) (church) To confess is to tell your sins to God or to a priest in order to be forgiven. tree →

3) (law) To confess is to tell the police or a court that you did a crime. tree →

4) "I must confess" can just mean "I admit", for a small thing: "I must confess I love cold pizza." tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories a character who confesses brings the truth into the open; the reader learns the mystery's answer. At home and school, confessing early usually makes things better than being caught. In church, Catholics confess to a priest; many Christians confess in silent or spoken prayer during the service. Phrases: confess to something, confess your sins, confess everything, I must confess.

examples

• Lily confessed that she had taken the last chocolate. tree →
• The thief confessed to the robbery. tree →
• On Saturday, Nan went to confess her sins to the priest. tree →
• I must confess, I forgot to feed the fish. tree →
• He confessed to his teacher before anyone found out. tree →
• Christians confess their sins and ask God for forgiveness. tree →
• She finally confessed that she was scared of the dark. tree →
• He confessed what he felt for her. tree →

note

Regular verb: confessed (past). Noun confession. "Confess to + -ing/noun": "He confessed to breaking it." Spelling: double s. A person can confess under pressure to something they did not do, so a confession alone is not proof.

In the corpora

• Toad confesses: «I am not the simple washerwoman I seem to be!
• People who have confessed can slip again; forgiveness does not run out, but each wrong must be put right.
• People who have confessed can slip again; forgiveness does not run out, but each wrong must be put right.
• A week later the brother couldn't stand it and confessed.
• Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

Trees and pragmatics

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