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# alga

«alga» in Mova's school dictionary: **a single simple plant-like living thing that grows in…** — 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

noun (an alga, algae)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An alga is a single simple plant-like living thing that grows in water or damp places and makes food from sunlight; it has no roots, stems, leaves or flowers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#m1)

2) Usually the word is used in the plural, algae: the green slime in ponds, the green on fish tanks, and seaweeds are all algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons algae are producers at the start of water food chains and make much of the world's oxygen. Too much algae can turn a pond green and harm fish (an «algal bloom»). In everyday life algae make rocks, pools and fish tanks slippery. Phrases: «algae grow», «green algae», «algal bloom».

### examples

- Algae made the pond look green. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x1)
- One tiny alga can only be seen under a microscope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x2)
- Seaweed is a kind of algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x3)
- Algae make food from sunlight like plants. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x4)
- We cleaned the algae off the fish tank glass. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x5)
- Watch out, the rocks are slippery with algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x6)
- Some blue-green algae are poisonous to dogs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x7)
- Fish and tadpoles eat algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alga/#x8)

### note

Irregular plural: one alga, many algae (say «AL-guh», «AL-jee» or «AL-gee»). «Algae» is far more common; «alga» is the singular, mostly in science. Myth: algae are not exactly plants; scientists put them in their own groups. Safety: keep pets out of water with a thick green or blue scum.

### In the corpora

- [Green algae grow in a sloth's fur and help to hide it among the leaves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/2-the-rainforest-from-the-top/9/)
- [Almost all the oxygen we breathe was made by plants and tiny algae in the sea.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/56-how-plants-grow/9/)
- [Corals are tiny animals called polyps that build limestone skeletons; algae living inside them make food from sunlight and share it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/90-aquarium-the-coral-reef-tank/9/)
- [When the sea gets too warm, coral throws out its algae and turns white, which is called bleaching.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/132-finding-nemo-real-clownfish-and-anemones/15/)
- [Green algae grow in sloth fur and give camouflage among leaves, and moths live in the fur too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/142-zootopia-real-sloths-shrews-predators-and-prey/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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