pair
part of speech
noun (pair, pairs); verb (pair, pairs, paired, pairing)
meaning for a pupil
1) A pair is two things of the same kind that go together: a pair of socks. tree →
2) A pair is one thing made of two parts: a pair of scissors, a pair of trousers. tree →
3) A pair is two people or animals together. tree →
4) To pair up is to make groups of two. tree →
sense in the lessons
two of a kind: «N pairs» is N × 2 things; in class we work in pairs; number pairs that make 10 (3 and 7); phrases: «a pair of», «in pairs», «pair up», «number pairs»
examples
- How many socks are in 6 pairs of socks? tree →
- Max has seven pairs of gloves. tree →
- Anna buys 3 pairs of shoes. tree →
- Work in pairs to check your answers. tree →
- I need a new pair of scissors. tree →
- 4 and 6 are a pair that makes 10. tree →
- A pair of swans swam on the lake. tree →
- Pair up with the person next to you. tree →
- One day the pair unexpectedly met a Lion. tree →
note
«A pair is 2 things.» «N pairs» is N × 2 things. Trap: the question may ask for pairs, not single things; then do not multiply. Trap: a pair of scissors or jeans is one thing. «pair», «pear» (a fruit) and «pare» sound the same.
In the corpora
- The tabla is a pair of Indian hand drums; pressing the skin while striking it changes the pitch.
- Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs, so no centipede has exactly 100 legs.
- A hoverfly has one pair of wings and can hover still in the air, while a wasp has two pairs.
- Swans, many parrots and albatrosses keep the same partner for years, and some albatross pairs stay together for 50 years or more.
- Like every insect, a bee or a wasp has six legs, two antennae and two pairs of wings.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «pair» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.