sudden

«sudden» in Mova's school dictionary: happening quickly and without warning — 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

meaning for a pupil

Sudden means happening quickly and without warning. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories, sudden events make action and surprise: a sudden noise, a sudden storm. In science and safety, sudden changes (a sudden drop in temperature, sudden flooding, sudden pain) can be warnings. Drivers dislike sudden movements near roads, so never dash out. Phrases: all of a sudden, a sudden change, sudden death (in sport, the next goal wins), sudden noise.

examples

• There was a sudden flash of lightning. tree →
• All of a sudden, the lights went out. tree →
• The car came to a sudden stop. tree →
• A sudden storm forced us indoors. tree →
• Don't make sudden movements near a strange dog. tree →
• She felt a sudden pain in her side. tree →
• All of a sudden a cock crew. tree →

note

Adverb: suddenly. "All of a sudden" is a set phrase meaning suddenly. Sudden describes how something happens, not how big it is: a small change can be sudden.

In the corpora

• Teachers know how their pupils usually write, so a sudden fancy style stands out.
• Elephants may jump at small sudden things, but the story that they are specially afraid of mice is a myth.
• The sudden jerk as you fall asleep is a common, harmless muscle twitch, and nobody is sure why it happens.
• In the dark they keep starting at what seems to be a sudden clear call from a real voice.
• Using "suddenly" again and again stops it being sudden; one surprise works better than ten.

Trees and pragmatics

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