folk

«folk» in Mova's school dictionary: people, especially ordinary people: «country folk», «old… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (folk, folks — plural meaning people); adjective (folk music, folk tale)

meaning for a pupil

1) Folk means people, especially ordinary people: «country folk», «old folk». tree →

2) (informal) Your folks are your parents or family: «my folks». tree →

3) (informal) «Folks» is a friendly way to speak to a group of people: «Hi, folks!» tree →

4) Folk, or folk music, is traditional music of a place, passed down by ordinary people, or modern songs in that style. tree →

5) Folk describes old customs and stories of ordinary people: a folk tale, folk dance. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English and history lessons folk tales and folk songs are stories and songs passed down by word of mouth, often with no known author, like Jack and the Beanstalk. In music lessons you might dance a folk dance or sing a folk song. In everyday talk «folks» is warm and friendly; «that's all, folks» ends cartoons. Phrases: «folk tale», «folk song», «folk dance», «old folk», «country folk», «ordinary folk».

examples

• We read a Russian folk tale about a clever girl and a witch. tree →
• The old folk in the village remembered the big storm. tree →
• My folks are picking me up after school. tree →
• «Right, folks, line up please!» said the coach. tree →
• Granny loves Irish folk music with fiddles and pipes. tree →
• We learned a folk dance from Scotland. tree →
• Kind folk helped us push the car. tree →
• Many folk tales begin «Once upon a time». tree →

note

«Folk» is already plural in meaning: «these folk are kind» (not «folks are» in formal writing, though «folks» is common in speech, especially in the USA). The l is silent: say «foke». Folklore = traditional stories and beliefs of a people.

In the corpora

• Maria Prymachenko was a Ukrainian folk artist from the village of Bolotnia who painted bright, imaginary animals.
• Hopak is a lively Ukrainian folk dance with big jumps and squat-kicks, linked to Cossack traditions.
• An old Scandinavian folk story said lemmings fell from the sky in storms, because they appeared so suddenly in boom years.
• The jackalope is a made-up animal, a rabbit with antlers, from American folk tales.
• That's more than most.» Lily's grandad says, «Some folk have had hard lives, love.

Trees and pragmatics

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