equal
part of speech
adjective; verb (equal, equals, equalled/equaled, equalling/equaling); noun (an equal)
meaning for a pupil
1) Equal means the same in size, number or amount: equal groups. tree →
2) In maths, «equals» (=) means «is the same as»: 3 + 4 equals 7. tree →
3) Equal means having the same rights and being treated the same way: all people are equal. tree →
4) An equal is a person of the same standing as you. tree →
5) To equal something is to be as good as it: she equalled the school record. tree →
6) (casual) Chatty speakers say «fair», «even», «same-same», «half-half», «fifty-fifty», «split it even» for equal shares. tree →
7) (formal) The exam voice says «equivalent», «identical in magnitude», «of equal cardinality», «in equal proportion», «equitably». tree →
sense in the lessons
groups of the same size («equal groups» for multiplying and dividing); the sign = («equals»); «equal parts» in fractions (a half is one of 2 equal parts); in everyday life fairness, equal turns, equal rights, «equal pay»; in sport «equalise» (UK: score to make it level); in casual talk «split it even», «fifty-fifty», «that's not fair, she got more»; in the exam voice «distributed equitably», «in equal proportion», «equivalent»
examples
- Today's lesson: Multiplying as equal groups. tree →
- 35 books are put into 7 equal groups. How many books are in each group? tree →
- Make 4 equal rows of 5 chairs. tree →
- Six plus two equals eight. tree →
- Cut the cake into four equal pieces. tree →
- Everyone gets an equal turn on the swing. tree →
- The two teams scored an equal number of goals. tree →
- Boys and girls should be treated as equals. tree →
- split the pizza even, 8 slices 4 of us tree →
- oi that's not fair, his half is bigger! tree →
- Thirty-five volumes are distributed equitably among seven groups; determine the cardinality of each group. tree →
- This he did very fairly, giving each an equal share. tree →
note
«equal groups» alone does not decide. Trap: given the number of groups and the size of one, multiply; given the total and the number of groups, divide. The sign = means both sides are the same, not «write the answer». US spelling «equaled», UK «equalled». «split it even», «fifty-fifty» and «equitably» mean equal shares: divide. «Fifty-fifty» between two means halves, not 50 each.
In the corpora
- In the Müller-Lyer illusion, two equal lines look different lengths because of the arrow ends; a ruler shows the truth.
- Big gifts can make others feel they owe you; small or equal gifts keep things comfortable.
- Contour lines join points of equal height above sea level, and lines drawn close together mean the ground is steep.
- In the northern hemisphere, the height of the Pole Star above the horizon in degrees is roughly equal to your latitude.
- The safety bicycle with two equal wheels and a chain came in the 1880s and let many women travel alone for the first time.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «equal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.