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# basic

«basic» in Mova's school dictionary: **simple and the most important, the first part that…** — 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

adjective (basic, more basic, most basic); noun (the basics)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Basic means simple and the most important, the first part that everything else is built on: basic facts, basic skills. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#m1)

2) Basic means plain, without extras: a basic phone, a basic room. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#m2)

3) Basic needs are things everyone must have to live, like food, water, shelter and safety. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#m3)

4) In chemistry, basic means alkaline, the opposite of acidic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, «basic facts» are simple sums and times tables you know by heart; you learn the basics before hard problems. In citizenship and science lessons, living things have basic needs. In everyday life, a basic version of a product has fewer features. Phrases: «the basics», «basic needs», «basic skills», «back to basics», «basic first aid».

### examples

- Learn the basic facts first: 6 × 7 = 42. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x1)
- Food, water and shelter are basic needs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x2)
- We learned the basics of first aid. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x3)
- The cabin was very basic, with no electricity. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x4)
- This is a basic phone with no internet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x5)
- Reading is a basic skill for every subject. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x6)
- Let's go back to basics and practise adding. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x7)
- Soap is basic, and lemon juice is acidic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/basic/#x8)

### note

Adverb: basically (often just used as a filler: «Basically, I forgot»). Spelling: basIc (not «basick»). «The basics» is always plural.

### In the corpora

- [Whatever comes, learning the basics yourself, such as writing, still matters, because it trains your own thinking.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/24-future-hopes/5/)
- [Many people already use AI as a helper at work, and knowing the basics yourself helps you check it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/24-future-hopes/10/)
- [Faces show basic feelings such as happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/14-faces-and-voices/7/)
- [The basic needs are food, water, a home (shelter), clothes and safety.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/money/7-wants-and-needs/6/)
- [The most basic rules of how a country is run are written in its constitution.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/96-laws-voting-government/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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