play
part of speech
verb (play, plays, played, playing); noun (a play, plays; play — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) To play is to do something for fun, like a game or a sport. tree →
2) To play music is to make it with an instrument or to turn it on. tree →
3) To play a part is to act as a character in a show. tree →
4) A play is a story acted on a stage. tree →
5) Play is time spent having fun. tree →
sense in the lessons
an activity: games played, minutes played, people playing; also a show on a stage; phrases «play with», «play against», «play fair», «play a trick», «playtime», «role-play»
examples
- The team played 22 games. tree →
- He plays for 30 minutes each day. tree →
- 12 children are playing in the park. tree →
- How many games did they play in all? tree →
- She plays the violin. tree →
- Our class put on a play about pirates. tree →
- He played the wolf in the play. tree →
- Let's play hide-and-seek. tree →
- Play fair and take turns. tree →
- Press play to start the song. tree →
note
An activity, little clue by itself. «each day» with it makes a rate. Trap: «games played» is a total of wins and losses (and ties). Past form «played». «Play a trick on someone» is a joke on them; keep tricks kind and safe.
In the corpora
- Grief gets gentler over months and years; playing and laughing during that time does not mean you have forgotten the person.
- Until the film makers announce it, who plays James Bond is only guessing by fans and betting sites.
- Streaming plays the next episode automatically to keep you watching; turning off autoplay helps you decide when to stop.
- Parental controls can ask for a PIN before films above a chosen age, such as 12 or 13+, will play.
- Checking the rating on a box, a poster or a streaming page before pressing play prevents many accidents.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «play» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.