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# act

«act» in Mova's school dictionary: **to do something, to take action: act quickly in an emergency** — 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

verb (act, acts, acted, acting); noun (an act, acts)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To act means to do something, to take action: act quickly in an emergency. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m1)

2) To act means to behave in a certain way: stop acting silly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m2)

3) To act means to play a part in a play, film or show. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m3)

4) An act is a thing someone does: an act of kindness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m4)

5) An act is a part of a play, or a short show by a performer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m5)

6) An Act is a law made by a parliament or congress. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

In safety lessons «act fast» means do the right thing quickly: get an adult, call for help. In drama lessons pupils act in plays, and a play is divided into acts and scenes. In stories, characters' acts (what they do) show who they are. In everyday talk «act like» or «act as if» means behave in that way, sometimes pretending. Phrases: act quickly, act out, act your age, an act of kindness, caught in the act, put on an act.

### examples

- If you see a fire, act quickly and tell an adult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x1)
- She will act the part of the queen in the school play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x2)
- Stop acting silly and listen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x3)
- Helping the old man was an act of kindness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x4)
- The play has three acts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x5)
- He acted as if nothing had happened. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x6)
- The thief was caught in the act. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x7)
- We acted out the story in class. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/act/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: acted. «Act like» + noun (act like a baby); «act as if» + sentence. «Act» (do, behave) and «actor» (a person who acts in plays or films). Putting on an act means pretending.

### In the corpora

- [A final demand is a warning that a bill is very overdue and stronger action will follow, so acting early is easier.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/19/)
- [Drunk means so much alcohol that balance, speech and judgement stop working properly; drunk people can fall, fight and act unpredictably.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/27-coffee-tea-wine-and-the-pub/13/)
- [Yet when the world agreed to act, the ozone layer began to heal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/33-the-air-we-breathe/6/)
- [Roots ending in t or te take -tion: act, action; invent, invention; complete, completion.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/8-endings-that-sound-like-shun/18/)
- ["Acting out" means behaving badly because of upset feelings.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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