opera
part of speech
noun (an opera, operas); noun (opera house, opera singer)
meaning for a pupil
1) An opera is a play in which the actors sing almost all the words, with an orchestra playing music. tree →
2) Opera is this kind of music and theatre in general. tree →
3) An opera house is the building where operas are performed. tree →
4) An opera box is a small private section of seats in a theatre, where people sit to watch the performance. tree →
sense in the lessons
In music lessons children learn that opera mixes singing, acting, costumes and an orchestra; famous composers include Mozart, Verdi and Puccini. In stories, going to the opera often shows something grand or fancy. The Sydney Opera House in Australia is a famous building. Phrases: «go to the opera», «opera singer», «soap opera» (a long TV drama series, not sung).
examples
- We watched a short opera about a magic flute in music class. tree →
- The opera singer sang so loudly the whole hall rang. tree →
- My nan loves opera and plays it in the kitchen. tree →
- The Sydney Opera House has a roof shaped like sails. tree →
- In an opera, even the arguments are sung. tree →
- Our class wrote a tiny opera about a lost lunchbox. tree →
- Mum watches a soap opera every evening. tree →
- "At home," said she, "my windows must be my opera-box. tree →
note
Countable: one opera, two operas. A «soap opera» is a TV drama, not real opera. Do not confuse with «Oprah» (a name). An opera is mostly sung; a musical mixes singing with ordinary spoken talk.
In the corpora
- Vikings did not wear horned helmets; that idea came from costumes in a 19th-century opera.
- Vikings did not wear horned helmets in battle; the horns come from costumes made for an opera in 1876.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «opera» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.