spoke
part of speech
verb form (past of speak: speak, speaks, spoke, spoken); noun (a spoke, spokes)
meaning for a pupil
1) Spoke is the past form of «speak»: «She spoke to the teacher.» tree →
2) A spoke is one of the thin bars or wires that join the middle (hub) of a wheel to its rim, as on a bike. tree →
sense in the lessons
In grammar, «spoke» is an irregular past form (speak – spoke – spoken). In everyday life bike wheels have spokes; in maths and design, spokes go out from the centre of a circle like radii. Phrases: «spoke to», «spoke up», «put a spoke in someone's wheel».
examples
- She spoke very quietly. tree →
- I spoke to my teacher about the problem. tree →
- He finally spoke up for his friend. tree →
- One spoke on my bike wheel is broken. tree →
- The spokes of the wheel go from the centre to the edge. tree →
- We put beads on the spokes so they clicked when we rode. tree →
- He spoke for a long time. tree →
note
Irregular verb: speak, spoke, spoken — never «speaked». The noun «spoke» is countable (spokes). In a circle, spokes are like radii: all the same length from the centre.
In the corpora
- I'm so sorry I spoke!
- The way people spoke changed, but the spelling stayed.
- Treating girls and boys differently like that is unfair, and many families are changing it, sometimes because a kid spoke up.
- Prophets were messengers who spoke God's word: they warned kings and people about injustice and gave hope in hard times.
- Prophets were messengers who spoke God's word, warned against injustice and gave hope.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «spoke» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.