ready

«ready» in Mova's school dictionary: prepared and able to do something now — 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 (ready, readier, readiest); adverb readily; noun readiness

meaning for a pupil

1) Ready means prepared and able to do something now. tree →

2) Ready means finished and able to be used or eaten: dinner is ready. tree →

3) Ready to do something can mean willing or likely to do it. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life «Are you ready?» is asked before school, a trip or a game; «get ready» means prepare (dress, pack the bag). In races: «Ready, steady, go!» (UK) or «Ready, set, go!» (USA). In cooking, food is ready when it is cooked enough to eat safely. In safety, «ready» is about planning: knowing the fire escape route and having an emergency kit. Phrases: get ready, ready for, ready to go, ready-made.

examples

• Are you ready for school? tree →
• Dinner is ready! Come and wash your hands. tree →
• Ready, steady, go! tree →
• I'm getting ready for the swimming lesson. tree →
• The cake will be ready in twenty minutes. tree →
• Is everyone ready to go? tree →
• She was ready to help anyone who asked. tree →
• Keep your bag packed so you are ready in the morning. tree →
• "I am ready," said the emperor. tree →

note

«Ready for» + noun (ready for bed); «ready to» + verb (ready to leave). Comparison forms readier/readiest are rare. «Ready» is not usually used before a noun except in compounds like «ready meal» or «ready-made». In maths problems «ready in 20 minutes» means add 20 minutes to the time now.

In the corpora

• In Manchester, Mum sits with the phone at 7.59, ready to ring the surgery the second it opens.
• A closed kitchen door and low voices mean grown-ups are discussing something they are not ready to share.
• An amber weather warning means bad weather is likely and people should be ready; it does not promise a snow day.
• Teachers often give a solo to the child most ready for that piece, and many swap solos around during the year.
• Live shows often have small disasters, so teams keep safety pins, tape and spare costumes ready.

Trees and pragmatics

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