free

«free» in Mova's school dictionary: it costs no money: you pay nothing for it — 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

adjective (free, freer, freest); adverb (free, for free); verb (free, frees, freed, freeing)

meaning for a pupil

1) Free means it costs no money: you pay nothing for it. tree →

2) Free means not shut in or held: a free bird can fly where it wants. tree →

3) Free means not busy: free time is time with nothing you must do. tree →

4) Free means not being used: a free seat is empty. tree →

5) To free someone or something is to let it go or get it loose. tree →

6) Free from or free of means without something, like sugar-free or free from danger. tree →

7) To be free to do something means you are allowed to do it, with nobody stopping you. tree →

sense in the lessons

Money in maths: an item that costs 0, as in «buy 2, get 1 free»; also free time to fill or count. In science and safety: free from germs, smoke-free. In stories: a trapped animal is freed, a prisoner goes free. Phrases: «for free», «free time», «set free», «free of charge», «feel free to», «sugar-free».

examples

• Buy 3 pens and get 1 free. tree →
• Entry is free for children. tree →
• She has 2 hours of free time. tree →
• Every tenth coffee is free. tree →
• Is this seat free? tree →
• The kids set the frog free in the pond. tree →
• The firefighter freed the cat stuck in the tree. tree →
• Feel free to ask me a question. tree →
• This gum is sugar-free. tree →

note

A free item has price 0: count it in the things you get but not in the money paid. Trap: «buy 2 get 1 free» gives 3 items for the price of 2. Trap: «free time» is not money. Beware of «free» offers online that ask for your password or a parent's card: real free things do not need them. Comparatives freer, freest are rare.

In the corpora

• While a parent is unemployed the family may claim benefits and cut spending; free fun like parks and libraries helps.
• A subscription keeps taking money every month until it is cancelled, and free trials often turn into payments.
• Some cash machines charge a fee for taking out money, while most bank ones are free.
• Debt advice charities give free, private help to make a plan for paying debts back at a pace the family can manage.
• A food bank is a charity that gives free food parcels, usually after a referral from someone like a school or a doctor.

Trees and pragmatics

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