teacher
part of speech
noun (teacher, teachers)
meaning for a pupil
1) A teacher is a person whose job is to help pupils learn, at school or in a class. tree →
2) Anyone who teaches you something can be your teacher, like a swimming teacher. tree →
3) «Experience is the best teacher» means you learn by doing. tree →
4) (casual) Pupils say «Miss» or «Sir» (UK, Ireland, Australia) to a teacher, and «teach» as a joke; «teacher's pet» teases a pupil the teacher likes. tree →
5) (rough) Pupils sometimes call a strict teacher names behind her back («old dragon»); it is rude and does not change the facts. tree →
6) (formal) «Educator», «instructor», «member of teaching staff» and «the invigilator» (who watches an exam) are stiff words for a teacher. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school maths: a person in the story who gives things, divides pupils into groups, or is counted with pupils on a trip. In everyday life: class teacher, head teacher (principal), teaching assistant, a music teacher. In casual talk: «Miss said…», «sir's in a mood». In the exam voice: «a member of the teaching staff distributes…», «the invigilator». Phrases: «class teacher», «head teacher», «ask the teacher», «teacher's pet», «supply teacher» (a substitute).
examples
- The teacher has 30 pencils for 10 pupils. tree →
- There are 4 teachers and 80 pupils. tree →
- The teacher gives each child 3 stickers. tree →
- The teacher splits 24 children into 6 groups. tree →
- Our teacher reads us a story every afternoon. tree →
- If you feel unsafe, tell a teacher. tree →
- My piano teacher says I am improving. tree →
- The teacher marked our tests. tree →
- teacher said 3 × 4 is 7?? that's wrong innit (casual, wrong claim) tree →
- Miss, can I go toilet? (casual, broken grammar) tree →
- Shut it, teacher's pet. (rough) tree →
- A member of the teaching staff distributes 24 exercise books equally among 6 groups; ascertain the number per group. (formal exam) tree →
- “And what will the teacher say?” tree →
note
Countable: «a teacher». Call a teacher by name and title («Mrs Smith», «Mr Lee», in some places «Miss» or «Sir»). Maths: a person; often the one who shares (division) or gives (multiplication). Trap: when counting people on a trip, include the teachers. Trap: a teacher can make a slip too — check a claim like «3 × 4 is 7» instead of believing it. Formal «educator», «instructor» = teacher. Safety: a teacher is a trusted adult to tell when something is wrong.
In the corpora
- Never accuse someone because "everyone says"; accusations are for a teacher to look into.
- His teacher knew straight away, because she knows how Connor writes and where he went.
- Teachers know how their pupils usually write, so a sudden fancy style stands out.
- Chatbots have a typical style, with words like "furthermore" and "in conclusion", that teachers learn to notice.
- Teachers often allow AI for brainstorming but not for writing your work; ask first when unsure.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «teacher» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.