mystery
part of speech
noun (mystery, mysteries); adjective (mystery — unknown)
meaning for a pupil
1) A mystery is something strange that is not known or explained yet. tree →
2) A mystery is a story or film about solving a crime or a puzzle, often by a detective. tree →
3) «A mystery number» or «mystery prize» is one you do not know yet. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school maths: a «mystery number» to find (the unknown), often found by doing the opposite operation; number riddles. In literacy: mystery stories, clues, detectives, suspects. In science: mysteries scientists still try to solve, like what is at the bottom of the ocean. Phrases: «solve the mystery», «a mystery to me», «mystery story», «murder mystery».
examples
- The mystery number plus 6 is 15. tree →
- Find the mystery number. tree →
- She reads a mystery book of 200 pages. tree →
- Solve the mystery: who has more? tree →
- How the dog got onto the roof is a mystery. tree →
- The detective followed the clues to solve the mystery. tree →
- It's a mystery to me why he left. tree →
- I am thinking of a mystery number: double it and you get 14. tree →
- Everything was said in whispers, every word was a mystery. tree →
note
Plural «mysteries» (y changes to ies). «Mysterious» is the adjective. Maths: «mystery number» is the unknown, often found by doing the opposite operation (15 − 6 = 9). Trap: check the answer by putting it back into the riddle.
In the corpora
- Mystery bags make buying exciting, but you pay for the surprise and often get things you do not want.
- A loot box is a paid mystery prize in a game; you do not know what is inside until after you pay.
- Mystery packs usually give you less than you paid, because most people get common items.
- Many traditions treat a lie blurted out in panic differently from a planned deception; the vicar says Scripture leaves some mystery here.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «mystery» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.