ms

«ms» in Mova's school dictionary: a title used before a woman's surname, whether she is… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun / title (Ms — with a capital M; Ms. in US English); also an abbreviation «ms» = millisecond(s)

meaning for a pupil

1) Ms (said «miz») is a title used before a woman's surname, whether she is married or not: «Ms Patel». tree →

2) «ms» (small letters) is short for millisecond, one thousandth of a second. tree →

3) MS can be short for manuscript or for multiple sclerosis (an illness). tree →

sense in the lessons

At school children often call female teachers «Ms» plus their surname: «Good morning, Ms Brown.» In letters and forms, Ms is a polite title for any woman. In science and computing, «ms» means milliseconds: a fast reaction is about 200 ms. Phrases: «Dear Ms…», «Ms Smith».

examples

• Good morning, Ms Lee! tree →
• Ms Patel is our new class teacher. tree →
• Write «Dear Ms Jones» at the start of your letter. tree →
• Ms is used for women, married or not. tree →
• The light flashed for 50 ms. tree →
• Our reaction times were about 250 ms. tree →
• Ms Garcia teaches us maths. tree →
• Ask Ms Wilson if we can go outside. tree →

note

Titles: Mr (men), Mrs (married women), Miss (unmarried women or girls), Ms (any woman), Mx (anyone, gender-neutral). UK English usually writes «Ms» without a full stop; US English writes «Ms.». Maths: 1 second = 1000 ms; 500 ms = half a second.

In the corpora

• You call teachers Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss with their surname, or Sir and Miss in many British schools.
• Teachers are called Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss with their surname, or Sir and Miss in many British schools.
• After hearing the story, one girl admitted she had signed a note herself, and Ms Rivera helped her tell her mum.

Trees and pragmatics

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