light

«light» in Mova's school dictionary: what lets us see; it comes from the Sun, lamps and fire — 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 (light, lights); adjective (light, lighter, lightest); verb (light, lights, lit or lighted, lighting)

meaning for a pupil

1) Light is what lets us see; it comes from the Sun, lamps and fire. tree →

2) A light is a lamp or bulb. tree →

3) Light means not heavy, weighing little. tree →

4) Light means pale, not dark, in colour: light blue. tree →

5) To light is to start a fire or make something burn or shine. tree →

6) Light means gentle or small: a light rain, a light meal. tree →

7) Light can also mean bright, full of light, not dark. tree →

sense in the lessons

lamps counted; or «lighter» comparing weights; in science: light travels in straight lines and very fast, it bounces off mirrors (reflection), shadows form when light is blocked; plants need light to grow; in safety: traffic lights, wear lights on a bike at night, never play with matches; phrases: «turn on the light», «traffic lights», «light as a feather», «come to light» (be found out)

examples

• The room has 6 lights. tree →
• The bag is 2 kg lighter than the box. tree →
• A light flashes every 3 seconds. tree →
• 4 lights went out. tree →
• Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth. tree →
• A shadow forms when something blocks the light. tree →
• Wait for the green light before you cross. tree →
• This box is as light as a feather. tree →
• Dad lit the candles on the cake. tree →
• She wore a light blue dress. tree →
• How splendid and light it is! tree →

note

«Lighter by» means take away from the weight. Lights going out take away. Opposites: light/dark, light/heavy. Past of the verb: lit (or lighted). Trap: a «lighter» bag weighs less, but a «lighter» colour is paler — read which sense.

In the corpora

• The anniversary of a death often brings the sadness back strongly; families may light a candle, visit the grave or share stories.
• A siren and flashing blue lights mean police are rushing to an emergency, and other drivers must pull over to let them through.
• Exaggeration that everyone knows is a joke, like lights «seen from space», is harmless fun.
• A bit of light gossip is fun, and most grown-ups enjoy it.
• Let's leave the landing light on tonight, and next time you can just say it's not for you."

Trees and pragmatics

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