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# essay

«essay» in Mova's school dictionary: **a short piece of writing on one subject, written by a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an essay, essays); verb (essay — formal, rare: to try)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An essay is a short piece of writing on one subject, written by a pupil or a writer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#m1)

2) (formal, rare) An essay is an attempt or try: «his first essay into painting». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English and history lessons pupils write essays with an introduction, paragraphs and a conclusion; exams often ask for an essay. Phrases: «write an essay», «an essay on», «essay question».

### examples

- Write an essay about your summer holiday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x1)
- My history essay is due on Friday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x2)
- The essay has three paragraphs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x3)
- Each essay must be at least 300 words; you have 180 — how many more? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x4)
- She got top marks for her essay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x5)
- The exam has one essay question. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x6)
- Having made their essay they grew careless. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/essay/#x7)

### note

Countable; «an essay». Write «an essay on/about something». Do not confuse with «assay» (testing metal).

### In the corpora

- [Connor hands in an essay about "the breathtaking vistas of the Mediterranean".](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/9-the-essay-the-teacher-spotted/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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