eagerness
part of speech
noun (uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) A strong wish to do or have something, full of energy and interest. tree →
2) Keenness; being impatient to start. tree →
sense in the lessons
It describes a happy, excited desire: «in her eagerness to help», «eagerness to learn». In school reports teachers praise «eagerness to learn». In stories eagerness often makes a character rush and make mistakes, like Toad's eagerness for every new craze or the Elephant's Child's eagerness to know what the Crocodile has for dinner.
examples
- In his eagerness to see the puppies, Sam ran ahead. tree →
- The class showed great eagerness to learn about volcanoes. tree →
- In her eagerness she knocked over the paint pot. tree →
- The Elephant's Child asked his questions with endless eagerness. tree →
- Mole's eagerness to see the river made him forget his spring-cleaning. tree →
- The dog wagged its tail with eagerness when it heard the lead. tree →
- Her eagerness to help made her the teacher's favourite helper. tree →
- In his eagerness to kill it, he hit himself a smart slap. tree →
note
Uncountable noun from the adjective «eager»; the adverb is «eagerly». Often followed by «to + verb» (eagerness to win) or «for + noun» (eagerness for news). Do not confuse «eager» (keen, wanting) with «anxious» (worried), though people sometimes use «anxious to» for eager.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «eagerness» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.