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# behave

«behave» in Mova's school dictionary: **To act or do things in a certain way: behave well, behave…** — 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 (behave, behaves, behaved, behaving)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To act or do things in a certain way: behave well, behave badly, behave strangely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#m1)

2) To act in a good, polite and acceptable way: please behave yourself. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#m2)

3) In science, how a material or animal acts in certain conditions: how ice behaves when heated. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

At school and at home, behaving well means following rules, being kind, listening, taking turns and being polite; good behaviour helps everyone learn and feel safe. In science, we observe how animals behave (ants follow trails, cats hunt at dusk) and how materials behave (metals expand when heated). In stories, how characters behave shows what they are like. Phrases: "behave yourself", "behave well/badly", "well-behaved", "badly behaved", "behave like".

### examples

- Please behave yourself at Grandma's house. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x1)
- The class behaved very well on the trip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x2)
- Our new puppy is learning how to behave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x3)
- How does chocolate behave when you heat it? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x4)
- Why is the cat behaving so strangely? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x5)
- He behaved like a real friend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x6)
- The children were well behaved at the museum. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x7)
- Scientists study how bees behave in the hive. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x8)
- Pinocchio promised to study and to behave himself. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behave/#x9)

### note

Regular verb: behaved, behaving. Noun: behaviour (British, Irish, Australian, NZ spelling) / behavior (American). "Behave yourself" is a common phrase meaning "be good". "Well-behaved" uses a hyphen before a noun: a well-behaved dog.

### In the corpora

- [Being an AI is not good or bad by itself; what matters is how an AI behaves and how people use it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/30-who-you-are-what-you-will-do/17/)
- [Wild animals stop behaving naturally when they see or smell people, so film-makers hide.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/394-how-nature-documentaries-are-made-hides-camera-traps-drones-and-years-of-waiting/2/)
- [Most things around us are solids, liquids or gases, and the difference is how their particles behave.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/4-solids-liquids-and-gases/0/)
- [Some things are tricky: toothpaste, ketchup and cornflour slime behave like a solid one moment and a liquid the next.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/4-solids-liquids-and-gases/4/)
- ["Going through a phase" means behaving badly for a while.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/14-family-and-behaviour/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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