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# literally

«literally» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **exactly as the words say, not as a figure of speech** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adverb (literally)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Literally means exactly as the words say, not as a figure of speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#m1)

2) In everyday talk, people often say "literally" just to make something sound stronger, even when it is not really true. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#m2)

3) Literally can mean word for word, as in a translation that follows each word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Interpretation: Sefer Yetzirah's translators note that the word sefirot literally means "countings", and warn that its pictures should not be taken too literally. In the primary lessons: In English lessons, pupils learn the difference between literal meaning (the real meaning of the words) and figurative meaning (idioms, metaphors). "It's raining cats and dogs" is not literally true. Phrases: "take something literally", "literally true", "translated literally".

### examples

- The word sefirot by itself is the plural action noun of סָפַר safar 'to count', thus meaning literally 'countings'. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x1)
- On the other hand, if בְּלִי מָה is to be read as two words, it represents the expression beli mah, literally 'without what'. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x2)
- The appearance of this root in the SY’s introductory paragraph serves as a reminder that although we embark upon a text rich in vivid, grounded symbolism—even anthropomorphism—we should not hasten to take such symbolic language overly literally. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x3)
- The sign literally said "Do not touch", so we didn't. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x4)
- "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" is not meant literally. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x5)
- My little brother took the joke literally. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x6)
- The word "breakfast" literally means breaking a fast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x7)
- I literally ran all the way to school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x8)
- The French phrase, translated literally, means "the cat's ears". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x9)
- She was literally shaking with cold. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/#x10)

### note

Many careful speakers dislike using "literally" when something is not true ("I literally died laughing"); in writing, use it only when it really is exact. The opposite is "figuratively". Spelled with double l in the middle: lit-er-al-ly.

### In the corpora

- [The first word you catch is nǐ hǎo (hello, literally «you good»).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/1-hello-and-goodbye-at-the-gate/2/)
- ["xióngmāo" means panda, literally "bear-cat"; in Taiwan some people say māoxióng.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/19-animals-and-your-zodiac-animal/7/)
- ["xiàwǔ" means afternoon, literally "after noon"; shàngwǔ, "before noon", is the late morning.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/21-today-tomorrow-now-later/15/)
- ["lǎnchóng" means lazybones, literally "lazy worm", and parents use it fondly on Sunday mornings.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/9/)
- [Quotation marks around a word can show that it isn't meant literally, like «by accident» when it was on purpose.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/22-reading-a-story-characters-plot-and-setting/25/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «literally» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/literally/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.