Englishfor English speakers
a
Determinative
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A is used when the following word could be any of a certain type.
Compare "A book I saw on the shelf" and "The book I gave you yesterday".
a
Noun
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A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
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In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
brief
Adjective
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If something is brief, it is for a short time.
Today there will be brief periods of rain.
Today's meeting should be very brief.
The ceremony included a brief speech by the president.
She arrived when she was 13 months old and, except for one brief period, she never left.
During the brief interview I was asked why I wanted to work for UPS.
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If a piece of clothing such as shorts or a skirt is brief, it is short.
One of them was naked, the other wore only a pair of brief shorts.
brief
Noun
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A brief is a short piece of writing or a short talk.
They've been asked to file briefs, stating why they think the case should not be heard.
My father was at work, reading through a pile of legal briefs.
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Briefs are short underpants.
Could you tell whether he was wearing briefs or boxers under his trousers?
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You use in brief to show that you will speak or write in a short way.
In brief, the results suggest that coffee is not harmful in small amounts.
brief
Verb
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If you brief someone, you tell them the most important information about something.
Army General David Petraeus briefed the president on the progress of the plan.
history
Noun
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History is what happened in the past.
China has many old books about its history.
The restaurant is close to the city's history and art museums.
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History is the study of what happened in the past.
He is a professor of history.
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If somebody or something makes history, they do something very important that will not be forgotten.
She made history by becoming Africa's first elected female president.
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If somebody or something goes down in history, they are remembered by people because they were very important or well known.
She'll go down in history as one of our greatest writers.
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A history is a book recording things that have happened.
He was reading a history of Ancient Rome.
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If somebody or something has a history of something, it's very common for them.
She has a history of cheating on tests.
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If you say something is history, you mean it's finished, over, dead, or not important any more.
OK, that game's history.
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If you say the rest is history, you mean you don't have to tell about because everyone already knows.
They just happened to run into each other at the right time, and the rest is history.
of
Preposition
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Made using.
It is a house of cards.
time
Noun
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Time is what we measure with a clock.
"What time do you finish work?" "At four o'clock (4:00)."
I don't have time to talk to you right now. Can we do it later?
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If you do something one time, you do it once.
time
Verb
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If you time something, you measure how long it takes in seconds, minutes, hours, etc.
Take out your watch and time yourself during the test.