phrase

«phrase» in Mova's school dictionary: A small group of words that go together but is not a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a phrase, phrases); verb (phrase, phrases, phrased, phrasing)

meaning for a pupil

1) A small group of words that go together but is not a whole sentence. tree →

2) A common saying or expression. tree →

3) (verb) To say or write something in a particular way. tree →

4) (music) A short part of a tune. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English lessons: noun phrase, adverbial phrase, fronted phrases. In maths, the phrase "in all" or "how many more" tells you what to do. Phrases: turn of phrase, phrase book, phrase it differently.

examples

• "In the morning" is a phrase, not a sentence. tree →
• "Break a leg" is a funny phrase that means good luck. tree →
• Can you phrase your question more clearly? tree →
• The phrase "how many left" tells you to subtract. tree →
• Learn the phrases in the French phrase book. tree →
• She has a nice turn of phrase. tree →
• Play the first phrase of the song again. tree →

note

A phrase has no main verb with its own subject (a clause does). Do not confuse with "phase" (a stage). Pronounced "frayz". Key maths phrases: "in all" (add), "left" (subtract), "each" (multiply or divide).

In the corpora

• "I'm being good today" about food is just a phrase; eating a biscuit does not make anyone bad.
• Bots translate short, common phrases well and long or tricky messages less well.
• «The dog.» is not a sentence: it is a phrase, because we don't know what the dog did.
• A sentence needs a verb; a group of words without one, like «The dog», is a phrase.
• A phrase has no verb.

Trees and pragmatics

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