property
part of speech
noun (property, properties)
meaning for a pupil
1) A property is a thing or things that belong to someone: «this pen is my property». tree →
2) A property is a house, building or piece of land. tree →
3) A property is a quality something has, like being hard, soft, shiny or magnetic. tree →
4) In maths, a property is a rule that is always true, like 2 + 3 = 3 + 2. tree →
sense in the lessons
a rule of numbers (the order of adding does not change the sum) or land and houses owned; in science: the properties of materials (hard, bendy, waterproof, transparent); in maths: properties of shapes (number of sides, right angles); in everyday life: respect other people's property; phrases: «lost property», «private property», «properties of materials»
examples
- Use the property of adding to check 8 + 5 = 5 + 8. tree →
- The property has 3 houses. tree →
- The farm property is 40 acres. tree →
- Which property shows 3 × 4 = 4 × 3? tree →
- A property of glass is that it is transparent. tree →
- Check the lost property box for your jumper. tree →
- The sign says «Private property, keep out». tree →
- One property of a square is that all four sides are equal. tree →
- Metal has the property of letting electricity pass through. tree →
- I appoint the tiger as guard over my property. tree →
note
As a rule it names a law of numbers; as land it is a story word. Adding and multiplying can be done in any order; taking away and dividing cannot (8 − 5 is not 5 − 8). Plural: properties (y → ies).
In the corpora
- "Collateral damage" is official military language for ordinary people killed or property destroyed by accident in an attack.
- Damaging property in a prank means someone must clean or pay for it, and it can be a crime.
- Never damage property in a prank; someone has to clean or pay for it, and it can be a crime.
- Never damage property in a prank; someone has to clean or pay for it, and it can be a crime.
- Never damage property in a prank; someone has to clean or pay for it, and it can be a crime.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «property» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.