repay
part of speech
verb (repay, repays, repaid, repaying)
meaning for a pupil
1) To repay money is to pay back money that you borrowed. tree →
2) To repay someone is to do something for them in return for help or kindness they gave you. tree →
3) To repay something such as effort can mean to be worth it, as in "The hard work repaid itself". tree →
sense in the lessons
In money lessons, if you borrow from a friend or a bank you must repay it, often with interest. In stories, a character may repay a kindness, like the mouse that frees the lion. In ethics, repaying good with good is fairness; repaying evil with good is mercy. Phrases: "repay a loan", "repay a debt", "repay a kindness", "how can I ever repay you?".
examples
- I'll repay the £5 I borrowed on Friday. tree →
- How can I ever repay you for your help? tree →
- In the fable, the mouse repaid the lion by chewing through the net. tree →
- My parents are still repaying the loan for our house. tree →
- (Bible) Jesus taught not to repay evil with evil. tree →
- Your practice has repaid you with a great performance. tree →
- If you borrow £20 and repay £4 a week, it takes 5 weeks. tree →
- I am grateful, and one day I will repay you.” tree →
note
Irregular past: repaid (not "repayed"). Noun: repayment. In maths: weeks to repay = total borrowed ÷ amount paid each week (20 ÷ 4 = 5). If there is interest, you repay more than you borrowed.
In the corpora
- O love the LORD, all ye His godly ones; the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully repayeth him that acteth haughtily.
- They repay me evil for good; bereavement is come to my soul.
- They also that repay evil for good are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.
- How can I repay unto the LORD all His bountiful dealings toward me?
- O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repayeth thee as thou hast served us.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «repay» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.