thing

«thing» in Mova's school dictionary: any object you can name — 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

noun (thing, things)

meaning for a pupil

1) A thing is any object you can name. tree →

2) A thing can be an idea, an event or something that happens: «A strange thing happened». tree →

3) Things can mean your belongings: «Pack your things». tree →

sense in the lessons

the objects that are counted, shared or grouped; in science «living things» and «non-living things»; phrases: «the same thing», «first thing», «a thing or two», «things to do»

examples

• When we share a number of things equally into groups, we divide. tree →
• Ben puts 12 things into 3 bags. tree →
• How many things are on the table? tree →
• Plants and animals are living things. tree →
• Pack your things for the trip. tree →
• The best thing about summer is the beach. tree →
• A funny thing happened at school today. tree →
• Hot things can burn you, so do not touch the stove. tree →
• And then a strange thing happened. tree →

note

Countable: a thing, things. Carries no operation clue. Trap: when counting «things», count all kinds together; when counting one kind, leave the others out.

In the corpora

• These things are worrying, but they are almost never anyone's fault at home, and most families get through them.
• Child benefit is a small regular payment from the government to families with children, to help with things like shoes and food.
• A sale lowers prices; a bargain is only a bargain if you would have bought the thing anyway.
• Buying, selling or renting a home has many steps, and things can take months or fall through.
• Moving is one of the most stressful things grown-ups do, so they can be tired and snappy.

Trees and pragmatics

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