postpone
part of speech
verb (postpone, postpones, postponed, postponing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To move an event to a later time instead of doing it now: The match was postponed because of rain. tree →
2) (formal) To delay doing something. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school and everyday life games, tests, trips and parties are postponed because of weather, illness or problems; it is not cancelled — it will still happen later. In maths a problem may say «the race was postponed by 3 days» — add the days to the old day. In formal notices: «The meeting has been postponed until further notice». Phrases: «postpone until», «postponed due to rain», «postpone a decision».
examples
- The football match was postponed because of the storm. tree →
- Our test has been postponed until next week. tree →
- Can we postpone the party? Half the class is sick. tree →
- The trip was postponed by 2 days. tree →
- They postponed the launch because of high winds. tree →
- Don't postpone your homework until the last minute. tree →
- The concert is postponed, not cancelled. tree →
- The sports day was postponed twice. tree →
- His master was never one for postponing a duty. tree →
note
Regular verb: postponed. Postpone = later; cancel = never; bring forward = earlier. Noun: postponement. Informal: put off. In maths: new time = old time + delay.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «postpone» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.