[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/algae.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / algae

[← A](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/A/)

# algae

«algae» in Mova's school dictionary: **Simple plant-like living things, usually green, brown or…** — 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, plural (algae; singular alga — rarely used); uncountable in everyday use (some algae)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Simple plant-like living things, usually green, brown or red, that grow in water or damp places and make their own food from sunlight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#m1)

2) The green slime or scum seen on ponds, rocks, fish tanks and swimming pools. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#m2)

3) Seaweeds are large algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science, algae are producers at the bottom of water food chains: tiny fish and other creatures eat them, and they give off much of the oxygen we breathe. In everyday life they make ponds green and paths slippery. In safety: rocks covered in algae are very slippery; some algae (blue-green algae) in lakes can be poisonous to people and dogs — obey warning signs. Phrases: algae bloom, green algae, pond algae.

### examples

- Algae turned the pond water bright green. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x1)
- Be careful — the rocks are slippery with algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x2)
- Seaweed is a kind of algae that grows in the sea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x3)
- Algae make food from sunlight, like plants do. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x4)
- Tiny animals in the sea eat algae. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x5)
- We cleaned the algae off the inside of the fish tank. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x6)
- The sign warned that toxic algae made the lake unsafe for swimming. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/#x7)

### note

«Algae» is plural; the singular «alga» is rare, so people say «some algae» or «a type of algae». Pronounced AL-jee (UK also AL-ghee). Algae are not true plants in modern science, but they make food by photosynthesis like plants.

### 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 «algae» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/algae/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.