pity

«pity» in Mova's school dictionary: a feeling of sadness for someone who is suffering or in… — 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 (pity — uncountable; a pity); verb (pity, pities, pitied, pitying)

meaning for a pupil

1) Pity is a feeling of sadness for someone who is suffering or in trouble. tree →

2) «It's a pity» or «what a pity» means it is sad or a shame that something happened. tree →

3) To pity someone means to feel sorry for them. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories pity shows a character's kind heart, or sometimes that they look down on someone. In everyday life people say «What a pity!» when a plan fails, a trip is cancelled or rain spoils a game. Phrases: feel pity for, take pity on (help someone because you feel sorry for them), it's a pity that, what a pity, out of pity.

examples

• I felt pity for the lost puppy in the rain. tree →
• It's a pity you can't come to my party. tree →
• What a pity the match was cancelled! tree →
• The giant took pity on the hungry boy and gave him bread. tree →
• She doesn't want pity; she wants help. tree →
• I pity anyone who has to walk home in this storm. tree →
• It would be a pity to waste all this food. tree →
• That would have been a pity. tree →

note

Mostly uncountable as a feeling: «full of pity», not «pities». But «a pity» = a shame: «It's a pity». Past of the verb: pitied (y changes to i). Pity is not the same as kindness: some people dislike pity because it can feel like being looked down on; «sympathy» or «compassion» sound warmer. «Pitiful» means very sad or very poor.

In the corpora

• People with disabilities want respect, not pity, so treat them as anyone else and ask before helping.
• Wynne is half insulted and half chuffed that Gwil cares, but a fake win feels like pity.
• When a big sibling always wins, the younger one may give up; letting them win on purpose often feels like pity.
• then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity.
• and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.'

Trees and pragmatics

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