public

«public» in Mova's school dictionary: for everyone to use or see, not private: a public park, a… — 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

adjective (public); noun (the public, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Public means for everyone to use or see, not private: a public park, a public toilet. tree →

2) The public means ordinary people in general. tree →

3) Public means done in front of other people: public speaking. tree →

4) Public can mean run or paid for by the government: a public school, public transport. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and safety: in public places (shops, buses, parks) stay with your adult and agree on a meeting point if you get lost; do not share private information in public online posts. In civics: public services include libraries, hospitals and police. Phrases: in public, public transport, public library, the general public, make public.

examples

• The public library is free for everyone. tree →
• We took public transport to the city. tree →
• Do not pick your nose in public! tree →
• The museum is open to the public on Sundays. tree →
• Keep your passwords private, not public. tree →
• She is shy about public speaking. tree →
• Public toilets are near the car park. tree →
• The news was made public on TV. tree →
• He took an active part in public affairs. tree →

note

Opposite: private. Trap: in the UK a «public school» is an expensive private school, while in the USA, Canada and Australia a «public school» is a free government school. «The public» takes a singular or plural verb.

In the corpora

• A charity is an organisation that helps people, animals or the environment, paid for by money the public gives.
• Most people accept tax as the price of public services; they argue about how much and what it is spent on.
• The others in it may have said nothing in public, and a fair person remembers that.
• In November 2019 Prince Andrew stepped back from public duties after a BBC interview about his friendship with a man convicted of serious crimes.
• A public apology is judged by what the person does next; saying sorry in front of millions is hard.

Trees and pragmatics

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