non
part of speech
prefix (non-), used before words; not a word on its own
meaning for a pupil
1) Non- is put at the start of a word to mean not or without: non-fiction, non-stop, non-smoker. tree →
2) It is written with a hyphen in most words. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school, non-fiction books tell true facts, unlike fiction (made-up stories). In science: non-living things, non-metals, non-renewable energy. In maths: non-zero, non-negative numbers. In everyday life: non-stop flight, non-slip mat, non-toxic paint. Phrases: non-fiction, non-stop, non-living, nonsense.
examples
- I like reading non-fiction books about space. tree →
- We flew non-stop to London. tree →
- A rock is a non-living thing. tree →
- Wood is a non-metal. tree →
- The paint is non-toxic, so it is safe. tree →
- Put a non-slip mat in the bath. tree →
- Coal is a non-renewable fuel. tree →
- He talked non-stop all the way home. tree →
- Yet it is dangerous to trust to mere non-appearance in literature as proof of non-existence among the folk. tree →
note
Not used alone. Usually written with a hyphen (non-fiction), but some words have none (nonsense). Non- simply means «not», unlike un- and in- which come with certain words: unhappy, invisible. A non-zero number is any number except 0.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «non» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.