item
part of speech
noun (an item, items)
meaning for a pupil
1) One thing in a list or a group of things, like an item on a shopping list. tree →
2) A piece of news or a report: a news item. tree →
3) One thing for sale in a shop. tree →
sense in the lessons
In maths, items are often what we count, price or group: "5 items cost £2 each" means 5 × 2 = 10. In shops, "items" are the things you buy; express lanes are for a few items. In everyday life, we tick off items on a to-do list or a packing list. In lost property, each item should have your name on it. Phrases: "an item of clothing", "items on the list", "household items", "a news item", "per item".
examples
- Tick off each item on the list. tree →
- Each item in the shop costs one dollar. tree →
- She bought six items at the supermarket. tree →
- A scarf is an item of clothing. tree →
- Pack these items: torch, water and a map. tree →
- The lost property box was full of items without names. tree →
- There was a funny news item about a dog that could skate. tree →
- How many items can you remember from the tray? tree →
- The last item on the programme was a grand display of fireworks, to be let off exactly at midnight. tree →
note
Use "an": an item. Countable: one item, two items. "Per item" or "each item" means for one; in maths multiply by the number of items to find the total, or divide the total by the number of items to find the price of one.
In the corpora
- Commas separate the items in a list: "I bought apples, bananas and grapes."
- "An item" means two people are in a relationship.
- A bigger pack is not always cheaper per item, so you compare the price of one item.
- Only trade game items through official in-game trading; outside trades are often scams where you give and get nothing.
- Offers to swap accounts or trade items with strangers outside the game are very often scams.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «item» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.