mam

«mam» in Mova's school dictionary: Mother; another word for «mum» or «mam» — 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 (mam, mams) – informal

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, UK – Wales, the north of England; Ireland) Mother; another word for «mum» or «mam». tree →

2) Sometimes a spelling of «ma'am» (madam), a polite way to speak to a woman, especially in the USA. tree →

sense in the lessons

Children in Wales, Northern England, Ireland and Scotland may call their mother «Mam». In stories set there, it shows where the family comes from. In the US, «ma'am» is how you politely address a woman or a teacher. Phrases: «my mam», «me mam» (dialect), «yes, ma'am».

examples

• «Mam, can I go out to play?» tree →
• My mam makes the best soup in Cardiff. tree →
• «Me mam says I have to be home by six,» said Liam. tree →
• Our mam works at the hospital. tree →
• «Thank you, ma'am,» said the boy to the lady at the shop. tree →
• When I fell over, I shouted for my mam. tree →

note

Regional and informal. Like «Mum», it gets a capital when used as a name («Mam, help!») but not after «my» («my mam»). Other forms: mum (UK), mom (USA, Canada), mummy, mommy, ma. «Ma'am» (with an apostrophe) is a shortened «madam», not a word for mother.

In the corpora

• Drink, they'll be saying." Mum gently: "His family haven't said why, Mam.
• Mam asked them apart: «I did the dishes,» said one.
• In Newcastle, Mam's new boyfriend calls Romilly names and blames her for everything, and Mam says nothing.
• In Kilkenny, Fionn lives with his mam.
• It's fine to tell Mam kindly: a good parent wants you to have mates your own age.

Trees and pragmatics

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