old
part of speech
adjective (old, older, oldest; elder, eldest for family); noun (the old — old people)
meaning for a pupil
1) Old tells how long someone or something has lived or been: «Tom is 7 years old». tree →
2) Old means having lived a long time: «an old man». tree →
3) Old means not new, used for a long time: «old shoes». tree →
4) Old can mean from before: «my old school». tree →
5) (casual) «Old» is said in a friendly way: «old mate», «good old Dad», «any old thing» (anything at all). tree →
6) (casual, rude) «My old man» and «my old lady» are slang for dad and mum (or husband and wife); «old fart», «old bag» are rude names for old people. tree →
7) (euphemism) Polite words for old people are «older people», «seniors», «elderly», «senior citizens», «getting on a bit». tree →
8) (formal) Exams say «aged», «of age», «the age of», «antique», «former» and «previously». tree →
sense in the lessons
how many years a person has lived: «How old» asks for an age in years; in history, old things come from long ago; phrases: «years old», «how old», «old friend», «in the old days», «grow old», «old-fashioned», «same old»; in casual talk «how old r u», «old mate», «old school» (in the old style, cool), «my old man»; in rough talk «old git», «ya old moaner»; euphemism «getting on a bit», «elderly», «senior»; in the exam voice «aged 7 years», «the present age of», «the age attained»
examples
- Tom is 7 years old. How old is Anna? tree →
- Lily is 9 years old and her sister is 4. tree →
- How old will Ben be in 3 years? tree →
- My grandad is very old, but he still cycles. tree →
- These shoes are old and have holes in them. tree →
- I met my old teacher in the shop. tree →
- The castle is about 800 years old. tree →
- how old's ur nan, like 80? tree →
- My old man says I'm getting 2 dollars a week. tree →
- Grandpa's getting on a bit, so we carry his bags. tree →
- A pupil, presently aged 7 years, has a sibling aged 4 years. Determine the age of the sibling when the pupil attains the age of 10. tree →
- Be kind and patient with old people. tree →
- "Who's there?" asked the old lady. tree →
note
«How old» asks for an age in years. Trap: in N years both people are N years older, so their difference stays the same. «a 7-year-old» is a child of 7 (no «s» on year before old). «aged 7» and «presently aged 7 years» mean 7 years old now. «elderly» and «seniors» are the polite words; «old git» is rude.
In the corpora
- A big family brings warmth and noise, and also old quarrels.
- Grown-ups also tease children about girlfriends and crushes, and older people sometimes find new partners late in life.
- An older person who finds a new partner after losing a husband or wife has not forgotten the one who died.
- Labour can take many hours, so a grandparent or friend often comes to look after the older children.
- Feeling jealous of a new baby is very common, and parents still love the older child just as much.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «old» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.