Englishfor English speakers
a
Determinative
—
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
—
A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
—
In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
play
Verb
—
To do things for amusement.
Children like to play all day.
—
If you play a musical instrument, you make music using it.
He plays guitar in a rock and roll band.
play
Noun
—
Something a group of actors does, in a theatre, for people to watch.
The actors on the stage had clothes with bright colors.
on
Preposition
—
positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above
The apple is on the table.
—
at the date of
Tim was born on the 4th of July.
—
along, forwards (continuing an action)
drive on, rock on
—
about, dealing with the subject of
I have a book on history.
There was a World Summit on the Information Society a few weeks ago.
—
touching; hanging from
I have no money on me at the moment.
I would like to eat the fruit on the trees.
—
because of, due to
He was arrested on suspicion of bribery.
I contacted Joanne on a hunch that she would know about it.
The stock price increased on news of a new product.
on
Adjective
—
If something is on, it is active, functioning or operating.
The television is on.
The lights are on, so it is very bright.
words
—
noun
the words that are spoken
I listened to his words very closely
—
noun
(= lyric, language)
the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number
his compositions always started with the lyrics
he wrote both words and music
the song uses colloquial language
—
noun
language that is spoken or written
he has a gift for words
she put her thoughts into words
—
noun
(= speech)
words making up the dialogue of a play
the actor forgot his speech
—
noun
(= quarrel)
an angry dispute
they had a quarrel
they had words