pal

«pal» in Mova's school dictionary: A friend — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a pal, pals); verb phrase (pal up, pal around — informal)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A friend. tree →

2) «Pen pal» or «pen friend»: someone you write letters to, often in another country. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday talk and stories it is a friendly word for a friend: «my old pal», «best pals». In school: pupils may have a «pen pal» abroad to practise writing. Sometimes «pal» is used in an annoyed way to a stranger: «Listen, pal…».

examples

• He's my best pal. tree →
• We have been pals since nursery. tree →
• I write letters to my pen pal in Australia. tree →
• The dog is my faithful pal. tree →
• Come on, pal, let's go home. tree →
• The two of them palled up on the first day of camp. tree →

note

Informal: fine in speech and friendly letters, but in formal writing use «friend». Plural: «pals». Similar words: «mate» (UK, Australia), «buddy» (US). Verb forms double the «l»: palled, palling.

In the corpora

• Her pals say, «Aw, he's pure cute» («pure» = really).
• «Double presents!» says her pal.
• «Cheers, pal.» Liam-Jay doesn't need it that week, but he knows where to go.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «pal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.