favour
part of speech
noun (favour, favours; US favor); verb (favour, favours, favoured, favouring)
meaning for a pupil
1) A favour is a kind thing you do to help someone. tree →
2) «In favour of» means supporting or agreeing with something. tree →
3) To favour someone is to treat them better than others. tree →
4) A party favour is a small gift for guests. tree →
sense in the lessons
In manners lessons pupils ask politely: «Could you do me a favour?» and return favours. In class votes «all in favour» raise hands. In fairness lessons a teacher should not favour one pupil. Phrases: do someone a favour, ask a favour, in favour of, in your favour, return the favour, favourite.
examples
- Can you do me a favour and hold this? tree →
- Thanks, I owe you a favour. tree →
- Who is in favour of a trip to the zoo? tree →
- The score was 3–1 in our favour. tree →
- Mum said she would not favour one child over the other. tree →
- We gave out party favours. tree →
- She returned the favour and helped me too. tree →
- Peter decided in favour of the land. tree →
note
British, Irish, Australian, NZ spelling: «favour»; American: «favor» (Canadian usually «favour»). «Do someone a favour» (not «make a favour»). «Favourite» means liked best. In votes, «in favour» = yes.
In the corpora
- Then the Mole asks the favour he's been waiting to ask: will the Rat take him to meet Mr.
- Newspapers can favour one side; comparing two reports helps you spot it.
- "Party favours" is US slang for illegal drugs at a party, though it also means small party gifts.
- People often remember events in their own favour without meaning to lie.
- Telling the teacher about a marking mistake in your favour shows integrity.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «favour» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.