constructive

«constructive» in Mova's school dictionary: Helpful and useful, aiming to improve something:… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (constructive)

meaning for a pupil

1) Helpful and useful, aiming to improve something: constructive criticism. tree →

2) Building up rather than breaking down: a constructive discussion. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school, feedback should be constructive: say what is good and how to make work better, not just what is wrong. In group work and citizenship, constructive talk helps solve problems. Phrases: constructive criticism, constructive feedback, constructive suggestion.

examples

• Our teacher gives constructive feedback on our stories. tree →
• "Your ending is exciting; maybe add more detail in the middle" is constructive criticism. tree →
• We had a constructive talk about the playground rules. tree →
• Try to be constructive, not just negative. tree →
• The meeting was constructive and we made a plan. tree →
• She made a constructive suggestion to save time. tree →

note

Adverb: constructively. Opposite: destructive or unhelpful. Constructive criticism is kind and specific, not insulting.

In the corpora

• "Constructive talks" often means talks that reached no agreement.

Trees and pragmatics

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