errand

«errand» in Mova's school dictionary: a short trip to do a small job, like buying 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

noun (errand, errands)

meaning for a pupil

An errand is a short trip to do a small job, like buying something, delivering something or taking a message. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life, children run errands for parents or neighbours, like posting a letter or buying milk. In stories, a character sent on an errand often meets an adventure. Phrases: «run an errand», «go on an errand», «run errands».

examples

• Can you run an errand for me and buy some bread? tree →
• Mum is out running errands. tree →
• I went on an errand to the post office. tree →
• The boy was sent on an errand to the baker's. tree →
• Saturday morning is for errands and shopping. tree →
• She does errands for her elderly neighbour. tree →
• ‘What is your errand here?’ asked the woman. tree →

note

Countable: «an errand», «errands» (with «an» because it starts with a vowel sound). Usual verb is «run»: «run errands». Safety: tell an adult where you are going before going on an errand alone. In maths, errand problems often involve money and change.

In the corpora

• Some old fool's-errand jokes, like «tartan paint», are a harmless tradition when the person laughs in the end.

Trees and pragmatics

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