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

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

# mainly

«mainly» in Mova's school dictionary: **mostly, more than anything else, or in most cases** — 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

adverb

### meaning for a pupil

Mainly means mostly, more than anything else, or in most cases. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In school writing and science it is used to describe the biggest part of something («Air is mainly nitrogen»; «The diet is mainly plants»). In maths and data handling it describes what most of the data shows. Similar words: «mostly», «largely», «chiefly». Phrases: «mainly because», «mainly made of».

### examples

- The class is mainly girls this year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x1)
- Koalas eat mainly eucalyptus leaves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x2)
- The air we breathe is mainly nitrogen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x3)
- I walk to school, mainly because it is close. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x4)
- Our garden is mainly grass. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x5)
- The weather will be mainly dry with some showers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x6)
- The book is mainly about friendship. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x7)
- The bar chart shows that pupils travel mainly by car. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x8)
- The stories have mainly been adapted or translated by Mrs. Lang, a few by Miss Lang and Miss Blackley. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mainly/#x9)

### note

Adverb, so it goes before the main verb or before the word it describes. «Mainly» does not mean «only»: in maths, if a class is mainly girls, more than half are girls, but some are boys. Do not confuse with «Maine» (a US state).

### In the corpora

- [Stars go on chat shows mainly to promote a new film, book or tour, and their funny stories are often practised beforehand.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/53-breakfast-and-chat-shows-celebrity-gossip-on-the-sofa/10/)
- [Plants grow mainly at the tips of their shoots and roots, and some bamboos can grow nearly a metre in a day.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/56-how-plants-grow/14/)
- [Chameleons change colour mostly to show their mood and to warm up or cool down, not mainly to match the background.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/88-reptile-house-komodo-chameleons-tortoises-crocodiles/7/)
- [Sawfish are critically endangered, mainly because their saws tangle in fishing nets.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/91-the-aquarium-the-shark-tunnel-and-the-rays/14/)
- [Sadly, more than a quarter of parrot kinds are threatened, mainly by forest loss and by people catching them as pets.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/303-parrots-of-the-world-macaws-cockatoos-african-greys-lorikeets-and-the-cheeky-kea/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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