English Sentence Analyser

Use this page to analyse and learn English text. You can copy text into the box below or get a random sentence from our database. Press the Analyse button to get translations of the text and words.

my
1. det. First-person singular possessive determiner. See.
2. det. Belonging to me.
I can't find my book.
3. det. Associated with me.
My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable.
Don't you know my name?
I recognised him because he had attended my school.
4. det. Related to me.
My parents won't let me go out tonight.
5. det. In the possession of me.
I have to take my books back to the library soon.
6. interj. Used to express surprise, shock or amazement.
My, what big teeth you have!
ambitions
1. n. plural of ambition
ambition
1. n. Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or literary fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.
My son, John, wants to be a firefighter very much. He has a lot of ambition.
2. n. An object of an ardent desire.
My ambition is to own a helicopter.
3. n. A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
4. n. A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
5. n. (obsolete) The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.
6. v. To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage. — Trumbull.
were
1. v. Second-person singular simple past tense indicative of be.
John, you were the only person to see him.
2. v. First-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
We were about to leave.
3. v. Second-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
Mary and John, you were right.
4. v. Third-person plural simple past tense indicative of be.
They were a fine group.
They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
5. v. Simple imperfect subjunctive in all persons of be.
I wish that it were Sunday.
I wish that I were with you.
* with "if" omitted, put first in an "if" clause:
*: Were it simply that she wore a hat, I would not be upset at all. (= If it were simply...)
*: Were father a king, we would have war. (= If father were a king,...)
6. v. (Northern England) was.
7. n. (obsolete) A fine for slaying a man; weregild.
8. n. (fandom) (The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.)
be
1. v. (intransitive, now literary) To exist; to have real existence.
2. v. (with there, or dialectally it, as dummy subject) To exist.
There is just one woman in town who can help us. (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us.
3. v. (intransitive) To occupy a place.
The cup is on the table.
4. v. (intransitive) To occur, to take place.
When will the meeting be?
5. v. (intransitive, in perfect tenses, without predicate) Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.
The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come.
I have been to Spain many times.
Moscow, huh? I've never been, but it sounds fascinating.
6. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
Knowledge is bliss.
Hi, I’m Jim.
7. v. (transitive, copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
3 times 5 is fifteen.
8. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.
François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995.
9. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.
The sky is blue.
10. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
The sky is a deep blue today.
11. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice.
The dog was drowned by the boy.
12. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.
The woman is walking.
I shall be writing to you soon.
We liked to chat while we were eating.
13. v. (archaic, auxiliary) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs, most of which indicate motion. Often still used for "to go".
14. v. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form future tenses, especially the future periphrastic.
I am to leave tomorrow.
I would drive you, were I to obtain a car.
15. v. (transitive, copulative) Used to link a subject to a measurement.
This building is three hundred years old.
I am 75 kilograms.
He’s about 6 feet tall.
16. v. (transitive, copulative, with a cardinal numeral) Used to state the age of a subject in years.
I’m 20. (= I am 20 years old.)
17. v. (with a dummy subject) it Used to indicate the time of day.
It is almost eight. (= It is almost eight o’clock.)
It’s 8:30 read eight-thirty in Tokyo.
What time is it there? It’s night.
18. v. (With since) Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to My grandmother died three years ago, but emphasizes the intervening period)
It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him.
19. v. (often, impersonal, with it as a dummy subject) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.
It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid.
Why is it so dark in here?
20. v. (dynamic/lexical "be", especially in progressive tenses, conjugated non-suppletively in the present tense, see usage notes) To exist or behave in a certain way.
"What do we do?" "We be ourselves.".
Why is he being nice to me?
crippled
1. adj. (usually offensive) Having a less than fully functional limb, or injuries which prevent full mobility.
1848 "A crippled man, twenty years older than you, whom you will have to wait on?" — Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
2. adj. (usually offensive) Having any difficulty or impediment which can be likened to a crippling injury.
1893 The Percy Driscoll estate was in such a crippled shape when its owner died that it could pay only sixty percent of its great indebtedness, and was settled at that rate. — Mark Twain, '
3. v. simple past tense and past participle of cripple
cripple
1. adj. (now rare, dated) Crippled.
2. n. (sometimes offensive) a person who has severely impaired physical abilities because of deformation, injury, or amputation of parts of the body.
He returned from war a cripple.
3. n. A shortened wooden stud or brace used to construct the portion of a wall above a door or above and below a window.
4. n. (dialect, Southern US except Louisiana) scrapple.
5. n. (among lumbermen) A rocky shallow in a stream.
6. v. to make someone a cripple; to cause someone to become physically impaired
The car bomb crippled five passers-by.
7. v. (figuratively) to damage seriously; to destroy
My ambitions were crippled by a lack of money.
8. v. to release a product (especially a computer program) with reduced functionality, in some cases, making the item essentially worthless.
The word processor was released in a crippled demonstration version that did not allow you to save.
9. v. (informal) slang: to nerf (used in gaming) something which is overpowered.
by
1. prep. Near or next to.
The mailbox is by the bus stop.
2. prep. At some time before (the given time), or before the end of a given time interval.
Be back by ten o'clock! We will send it by the first week of July.
3. prep. Indicates the actor in a clause with its verb in the passive voice: Through the action or presence of.
The matter was decided by the chairman. The boat was swamped by the water. He was protected by his body armour.
4. prep. Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
5. prep. Indicates the cause of a condition or event: Through the action of, caused by, responsibility for; by dint of.
6. prep. Indicates a means: Involving/using the means of.
I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
7. prep. Indicates a source of light used as illumination.
The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight.
8. prep. Indicates an authority, rule, or permission followed.
I sorted the items by category. By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.
9. prep. Indicates the amount of some progression: With a change of.
Our stock is up by ten percent.
10. prep. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
We went through the book page by page. We crawled forward by inches.
11. prep. Indicates a referenced source: According to.
He cheated by his own admission.
12. prep. Indicates an oath: With the authority of.
By Jove! I think she's got it! By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
13. prep. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix. The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot. The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm.
14. prep. (horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.
She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress.
15. adv. Along a path which runs by the speaker.
I watched as it passed by.
16. adv. In the vicinity, near.
There was a shepherd close by.
The shop is hard by the High Street.
17. adv. To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
I'll stop by on my way home from work.
We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
18. adv. Aside, away.
The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.
19. adj. Out of the way, subsidiary.
20. n. (card games) A pass
21. interj. alternative spelling of bye
a
1. art. One; any indefinite example of; used to denote a singular item of a group.
There was a man here looking for you yesterday.
2. art. Used in conjunction with the adjectives score, dozen, hundred, thousand, and million, as a function word.
I've seen it happen a hundred times.
3. art. One certain or particular; any single.Brown, Lesley, (2003)
We've received an interesting letter from a Mrs. Miggins of London.
4. art. The same; one.
We are of a mind on matters of morals.
5. art. Any, every; used before a noun which has become modified to limit its scope; also used with a negative to indicate not a single one.Lindberg, Christine A. (2007)
A man who dies intestate leaves his children troubles and difficulties.
He fell all that way, and hasn't a bump on his head?
6. art. Used before plural nouns modified by few, good many, couple, great many, etc.
7. art. Someone or something like; similar to; Used before a proper noun to create an example out of it.
The center of the village was becoming a Times Square.
8. prep. (archaic) To do with position or direction; In, on, at, by, towards, onto.
Stand a tiptoe.
9. prep. To do with separation; In, into.
Torn a pieces.
10. prep. To do with time; Each, per, in, on, by.
I brush my teeth twice a day.
11. prep. (obsolete) To do with method; In, with.
12. prep. (obsolete) To do with role or capacity; In.
A God’s name.
13. prep. To do with status; In.
King James Bible (II Chronicles 2:18)
To set the people a worke.
14. prep. (archaic) To do with process, with a passive verb; In the course of, experiencing.
1964, Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’
The times, they are a-changin'.
15. prep. (archaic) To do with an action, an active verb; Engaged in.
1611, King James Bible, Hebrews 11-21
Jacob, when he was a dying
16. prep. (archaic) To do with an action/movement; To, into.
17. v. (archaic, or slang) Have.
I'd a come, if you'd a asked.
18. pron. (obsolete, outside, England, and Scotland dialects) He.
19. interj. A meaningless syllable; ah.
20. prep. (archaic, slang) Of.
The name of John a Gaunt.
21. adv. (chiefly Scotland) All.
22. adj. (chiefly Scotland) All.
lack
1. n. (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
2. n. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
3. v. To be without, to need, to require.
My life lacks excitement.
4. v. (intransitive) To be short (of or for something).
He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
5. v. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want.
6. v. (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
of
1. prep. Expressing distance or motion.
2. prep. (now obsolete, or dialectal) From (of distance, direction), "off".
3. prep. (obsolete except in phrases) Since, from (a given time, earlier state etc.).
4. prep. From, away from (a position, number, distance etc.).
There are no shops within twenty miles of the cottage.
5. prep. (North America, Scotland, Ireland) Before (the hour); to.
What's the time? / Nearly a quarter of three.
6. prep. Expressing separation.
7. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with the action indicated by a transitive verb and the quality or substance by a grammatical object.)
Finally she was relieved of the burden of caring for her sick husband.
8. prep. (Indicating removal, absence or separation, with resulting state indicated by an adjective.)
He seemed devoid of human feelings.
9. prep. (obsolete) (Indicating removal, absence or separation, construed with an intransitive verb.)
10. prep. Expressing origin.
11. prep. (Indicating an ancestral source or origin of descent.)
The word is believed to be of Japanese origin.
12. prep. (Indicating a (non-physical) source of action or emotion; introducing a cause, instigation); from, out of, as an expression of.
The invention was born of necessity.
13. prep. (following an intransitive verb) (Indicates the source or cause of the verb.)
It is said that she died of a broken heart.
14. prep. (following an adjective) (Indicates the subject or cause of the adjective.)
I am tired of all this nonsense.
15. prep. Expressing agency.
16. prep. (following a passive verb) (Indicates the agent (for most verbs, now usually expressed with by).)
I am not particularly enamoured of this idea.
17. prep. (Used to introduce the "subjective genitive"; following a noun to form the head of a postmodifying noun phrase) (see also 'Possession' senses below).
The contract can be terminated at any time with the agreement of both parties.
18. prep. (following an adjective) (Used to indicate the agent of something described by the adjective.)
It was very brave of you to speak out like that.
19. prep. Expressing composition, substance.
20. prep. (after a verb expressing construction, making etc.) (Used to indicate the material or substance used.)
Many 'corks' are now actually made of plastic.
21. prep. (directly following a noun) (Used to indicate the material of the just-mentioned object.)
She wore a dress of silk.
22. prep. (Indicating the composition of a given collective or quantitative noun.)
What a lot of nonsense!
23. prep. (Used to link a given class of things with a specific example of that class.)
Welcome to the historic town of Harwich.
24. prep. (Links two nouns in near-apposition, with the first qualifying the second); "which is also".
I'm not driving this wreck of a car.
25. prep. Introducing subject matter.
26. prep. (Links an intransitive verb, or a transitive verb and its subject (especially verbs to do with thinking, feeling, expressing etc.), with its subject-ma
I'm always thinking of you.
27. prep. (following a noun (now chiefly nouns of knowledge, communication etc.)) (Introduces its subject matter); about, concerning.
He told us the story of his journey to India.
28. prep. (following an adjective) (Introduces its subject matter.)
This behaviour is typical of teenagers.
29. prep. Having partitive effect.
30. prep. (following a number or other quantitive word) (Introduces the whole for which is indicated only the specified part or segment); "from among".
Most of these apples are rotten.
31. prep. (following a noun) (Indicates a given part.)
32. prep. (now archaic, literary, with preceding partitive word assumed, or as a predicate after to be) Some, an amount of, one of.
On the whole, they seem to be of the decent sort.
33. prep. (Links to a genitive noun or possessive pronoun, with partitive effect (though now often merged with possessive senses, below).)
He is a friend of mine.
34. prep. Expressing possession.
35. prep. Belonging to, existing in, or taking place in a given location, place or time. Compare "origin" senses, above.
He was perhaps the most famous scientist of the twentieth century.
36. prep. Belonging to (a place) through having title, ownership or control over it.
The owner of the nightclub was arrested.
37. prep. Belonging to (someone or something) as something they possess or have as a characteristic; (the "possessive genitive". (With abstract nouns, this inter
Keep the handle of the saucepan away from the flames.
38. prep. Forming the "objective genitive".
39. prep. (Follows an agent noun, verbal noun or noun of action.)
She had a profound distrust of the police.
40. prep. Expressing qualities or characteristics.
41. prep. (now archaic, or literary) (Links an adjective with a noun or noun phrase to form a quasi-adverbial qualifier); in respect to, as regards.
My companion seemed affable and easy of manner.
42. prep. (Indicates a quality or characteristic); "characterized by".
Pooh was said to be a bear of very little brain.
43. prep. (Indicates quantity, age, price, etc.)
We have been paying interest at a rate of 10%.
44. prep. (US, informal considered incorrect by some) (Used to link singular indefinite nouns (preceded by the indefinite article) and attributive adjectives mod
It's not that big of a deal.
45. prep. Expressing a point in time.
46. prep. (chiefly regional) During the course of (a set period of time, day of the week etc.), now specifically with implied repetition or regularity.
Of an evening, we would often go for a stroll along the river.
47. prep. (UK dialectal, chiefly in negative constructions) For (a given length of time).
I've not tekken her out of a goodly long while.
48. prep. (after a noun) (Indicates duration of a state, activity etc.)
After a delay of three hours, the plane finally took off.
money
1. n. A legally or socially binding conceptual contract of entitlement to wealth, void of intrinsic value, payable for all debts and taxes, and regulated in supply.
2. n. A generally accepted means of exchange and measure of value.
Before colonial times cowry shells imported from Mauritius were used as money in Western Africa.
3. n. A currency maintained by a state or other entity which can guarantee its value (such as a monetary union).
money supply; money market
4. n. Hard cash in the form of banknotes and coins, as opposed to cheques/checks, credit cards, or credit more generally.
5. n. The total value of liquid assets available for an individual or other economic unit, such as cash and bank deposits.
6. n. Wealth.
He was born with money.
7. n. An item of value between two or more parties used for the exchange of goods or services.
8. n. A person who funds an operation.

Dictionary entries from Wiktionary