practically
part of speech
adverb (practically)
meaning for a pupil
1) Almost, nearly: «The jar is practically empty.» tree →
2) In a sensible, useful, real-life way: «Think practically about what to pack.» tree →
3) In practice, as things really are, not in theory. tree →
sense in the lessons
Very common in everyday talk to mean «almost»: «I practically fell asleep.» In school it can also mean doing something with your hands rather than on paper: «a practically minded child». Phrases: «practically nothing», «practically everyone», «practically speaking».
examples
- The bus was practically empty. tree →
- I've practically finished my homework. tree →
- Practically everyone in the class has a pet. tree →
- Practically speaking, we can't fit ten people in the car. tree →
- She is very practically minded and can fix anything. tree →
- It cost practically nothing at the car-boot sale. tree →
- We were practically running to get to school on time. tree →
- It is practically impossible to use the long tabulations for comparative purposes without some such shorthand. tree →
note
Adverb of «practical». The «almost» sense is informal but very common. Spelling: practic-al-ly, with «-ally». Do not confuse with «practice» (noun in UK; verb is «practise» in UK). In maths, «practically» is not exact: «practically 100» is not 100.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «practically» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.