townspeople
part of speech
noun (townspeople — plural)
meaning for a pupil
The people who live in a town, especially when thought of all together. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories and fairy tales (like «The Pied Piper of Hamelin»), the townspeople react together: they cheer, panic or refuse to pay. In history, townspeople were merchants and craftspeople, different from farmers or lords. Phrases: «the townspeople gathered», «the townspeople of Hamelin».
examples
- The townspeople gathered in the square to hear the news. tree →
- The townspeople of Hamelin would not pay the Piper. tree →
- All the townspeople came out to watch the parade. tree →
- The flood forced the townspeople to leave their homes. tree →
- In the Middle Ages, townspeople paid taxes to the lord. tree →
- The townspeople cheered when the hero returned. tree →
- He drove by the town, but the townspeople had met together and had been looking out for him for ever so long. tree →
note
Plural noun: «the townspeople are…», never «a townspeople». Also: townsfolk (similar, a bit old-fashioned), townsperson (one, rare). One word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «townspeople» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.