pasta
part of speech
noun (pasta, uncountable; kinds of pasta)
meaning for a pupil
1) Pasta is a food made from flour, water and sometimes egg, made into shapes like spaghetti, macaroni or penne and boiled before eating. tree →
2) A pasta can also mean a dish made with pasta, like a pasta bake. tree →
sense in the lessons
Everyday life: pasta is a popular family meal in English-speaking countries; it came from Italy. In science and health lessons it is a carbohydrate, giving energy. Safety in the kitchen: an adult should drain pasta, because boiling water and steam burn. In maths and crafts, dried pasta is used for counting and making pictures. Phrases: «a bowl of pasta», «pasta sauce», «pasta bake», «cook pasta», «dried pasta».
examples
- We had pasta with tomato sauce for dinner. tree →
- Spaghetti and macaroni are kinds of pasta. tree →
- Pasta grows soft when you boil it. tree →
- Mum drained the pasta in the sink. tree →
- We counted dried pasta shapes in maths. tree →
- My favourite is cheesy pasta bake. tree →
- Pasta is a good source of energy. tree →
- The pasta stuck together because there was too little water. tree →
note
Usually uncountable: «some pasta», «a bowl of pasta», not «a pasta» for one piece. Pronunciation: UK «PAS-ta», US often «PAH-sta». Pasta is not «spaghetti» in general; spaghetti is just one shape.
In the corpora
- Real cats are carnivores: they need meat, cannot live on pasta like Garfield, and cannot even taste sweet things.
- Draining pasta is a separation: the holes of the colander are big enough for water but too small for the pasta.
- A boy in Canada cooked pasta on his own and tipped the pan; the boiling water splashed his legs and he was burned.
- In Edinburgh, loud Oskar always answers for shy Filip: «He wants chips.» Filip wanted pasta.
- Bulk buying only saves money on things that last and get used, like rice and pasta, not on food that goes off.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «pasta» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.