existence

«existence» in Mova's school dictionary: Being real or being alive; the fact that something exists — 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 (existence, existences)

meaning for a pupil

1) Being real or being alive; the fact that something exists. tree →

2) A way of living, especially a hard or dull one: «a lonely existence». tree →

3) The phrase "in existence" means existing anywhere at all in the world. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science: «the existence of dinosaurs is proved by fossils». In everyday speech: «come into existence» (start), «go out of existence» (end). In stories: «a miserable existence» describes a hard life.

examples

• Scientists proved the existence of the planet. tree →
• Fossils show the existence of dinosaurs long ago. tree →
• The club came into existence when we were in Year 3. tree →
• The poor mouse led a lonely existence. tree →
• Do you believe in the existence of ghosts? tree →
• Some animals are fighting for their existence. tree →
• This must be the best watering-place in existence. tree →

note

Usually uncountable. Spelling trap: existence ends in -ence, not -ance. Verb: exist; adjective: existing. «In existence» = existing now.

In the corpora

• The liar's dividend means people use the existence of fakes to deny things that really happened.

Trees and pragmatics

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