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# opera

«opera» in Mova's school dictionary: **a play in which the actors sing almost all the words…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an opera, operas); noun (opera house, opera singer)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An opera is a play in which the actors sing almost all the words, with an orchestra playing music. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#m1)

2) Opera is this kind of music and theatre in general. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#m2)

3) An opera house is the building where operas are performed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#m3)

4) An opera box is a small private section of seats in a theatre, where people sit to watch the performance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In music lessons children learn that opera mixes singing, acting, costumes and an orchestra; famous composers include Mozart, Verdi and Puccini. In stories, going to the opera often shows something grand or fancy. The Sydney Opera House in Australia is a famous building. Phrases: «go to the opera», «opera singer», «soap opera» (a long TV drama series, not sung).

### examples

- We watched a short opera about a magic flute in music class. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x1)
- The opera singer sang so loudly the whole hall rang. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x2)
- My nan loves opera and plays it in the kitchen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x3)
- The Sydney Opera House has a roof shaped like sails. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x4)
- In an opera, even the arguments are sung. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x5)
- Our class wrote a tiny opera about a lost lunchbox. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x6)
- Mum watches a soap opera every evening. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x7)
- "At home," said she, "my windows must be my opera-box. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/opera/#x8)

### note

Countable: one opera, two operas. A «soap opera» is a TV drama, not real opera. Do not confuse with «Oprah» (a name). An opera is mostly sung; a musical mixes singing with ordinary spoken talk.

### In the corpora

- [Vikings did not wear horned helmets; that idea came from costumes in a 19th-century opera.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/20-the-middle-ages-begin-the-vikings/10/)
- [Vikings did not wear horned helmets in battle; the horns come from costumes made for an opera in 1876.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/87-olympiad-spot-the-anachronism/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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