debt

«debt» in Mova's school dictionary: money that you owe to someone — 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

noun (a debt, debts; debt, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) A debt is money that you owe to someone. tree →

2) Debt is the state of owing money (be in debt). tree →

3) A debt of gratitude is a feeling that you owe someone thanks for their help. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths and money lessons, a debt can be shown as a negative number: if you have £5 and owe £8, you are £3 in debt. In everyday life, borrowing on a credit card or loan creates debt that must be paid back, usually with interest. Phrases: in debt, out of debt, pay off a debt, owe a debt, get into debt.

examples

• He paid back his debt to his sister. tree →
• If you borrow money, you are in debt. tree →
• It took them years to get out of debt. tree →
• I owe you a debt of gratitude for helping me. tree →
• If I have £2 and owe £5, my debt is £3. tree →
• Credit cards can lead people into debt. tree →
• The company had huge debts. tree →
• “We will pay your debts,” they said. tree →

note

Countable (a debt, debts) and uncountable (in debt). The «b» is silent: DET. Trap: «in debt» means you owe money; a debt is like a negative amount, so paying it off brings you back to zero.

In the corpora

• Debt is money that has been borrowed and is still owed.
• Most adults have some, like a mortgage or a car loan, and planned debt can be fine.
• Debt becomes a problem when the repayments are more than the family can afford.
• Debt is common and can be sorted.
• The minimum payment barely covers the interest, so paying only the minimum keeps a debt going for years.

Trees and pragmatics

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