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.
fire
Noun
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A chemical reaction that makes heat and flames or smoldering.
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Something that has made or can make this chemical reaction, such as a campfire.
We sat around the fire singing songs and telling stories.
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The, often accidental, occurrence of fire in a certain place which leads to its full or partial destruction.
There was a fire at the school last night and the whole place burned down.
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One of the four basic elements.
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One of the five basic elements.
fire
Verb
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To set something on fire.
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To shoot (a gun, cannon or a similar weapon).
We will fire our guns at the enemy.
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To shoot a gun, cannon or a similar weapon.
Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.
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To end the employment of an employee because of something they did wrong.
She should fire the employee that stole from the company.
He got fired from his job.
upon
Preposition
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on or onto
The police were called upon to save him.
The snow fell gently upon the lake.
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going to happen
Christmas is almost upon us.
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at (a time)
Upon his death, she became the owner of the store.
the
Determiner
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Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
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Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
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Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
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Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
deep
Adjective
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A hole or body of water is deep if it goes down a long way.
Do not dive into this swimming pool because it is not deep enough.
Some oil wells must be drilled deeper than others to reach the oil.
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Something is deep if it is far below or inside.
The Earth's iron core is deep beneath its crust.
The Japanese style of poetry called haiku is simple on the surface, but it should also have a deeper emotional meaning.
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A deep voice has low-pitched tones.
In opera, the bass singer has the deepest voice.
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With actions that make something smaller, we say deep to mean they make them much smaller.
This furniture store offers deep discounts on beds.
The new budget makes deep spending cuts in education.
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An idea is called deep if it has an important meaning that is not easy to see.
A: 'I think you like heavy metal music because your parents don't approve of it.' B:'Wow, that's deep!'