hesitate
part of speech
verb (hesitate, hesitates, hesitated, hesitating)
meaning for a pupil
1) To stop or pause before doing or saying something because you are unsure, nervous or worried. tree →
2) Don't hesitate to means feel free to do it at once: Don't hesitate to ask. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories it shows a character is unsure or afraid; in everyday and formal letters, don't hesitate to contact us. Phrases: hesitate to, without hesitating, he who hesitates is lost.
examples
- She hesitated before jumping into the cold water. tree →
- Don't hesitate to ask if you need help. tree →
- He answered without hesitating. tree →
- I hesitated because I wasn't sure of the answer. tree →
- The cat hesitated at the edge of the wall. tree →
- If you see a fire, don't hesitate, call 999. tree →
- The kind children did not hesitate for an instant. tree →
note
Past: hesitated. Noun: hesitation. Adjective: hesitant. Followed by to + verb: hesitate to say. In an emergency: 999 (UK, Ireland also 112), 911 (USA, Canada), 000 (Australia), 111 (NZ).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hesitate» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.