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# affirm

«affirm» in Mova's school dictionary: **to say firmly and clearly that it is true** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (affirm, affirms, affirmed, affirming)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To affirm something is to say firmly and clearly that it is true. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#m1)

2) To affirm a person is to support and encourage them, telling them they are valued. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#m2)

3) (law, formal) To affirm is to make a solemn promise to tell the truth in court without swearing on a holy book. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#m3)

4) (law) A higher court affirms a decision when it agrees that the decision was right. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In ethics and PSHE lessons affirming someone means saying kind, true things that build them up. In law lessons people may «swear» on a Bible or «affirm» instead. In church, people affirm their faith by saying the creed. Phrases: affirm the truth, affirm your faith, an affirmation.

### examples

- The witness affirmed that she had seen the car. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x1)
- Our teacher affirmed that the answer was correct. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x2)
- Saying «You worked so hard» affirms your friend's effort. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x3)
- In court, he chose to affirm rather than swear on the Bible. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x4)
- The church members affirmed their faith by saying the creed together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x5)
- The higher court affirmed the judge's decision. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x6)
- Write three sentences that affirm what you are good at. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x7)
- “And I am that man,” his companion affirmed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirm/#x8)

### note

Noun: affirmation; adjective: affirmative (an affirmative answer = yes). Do not confuse with «confirm» (check or prove that something is true or booked), though they are close. Opposite: deny.

### In the corpora

- [The law in many countries lets people affirm instead of swearing, partly because of Quakers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/11/)
- [Running an "if" backwards is a mistake grown-ups call affirming the consequent.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/184-if-then-and-its-traps/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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