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

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

# paperwork

«paperwork» in Mova's school dictionary: **Forms, letters, reports and other papers that must be…** — 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, uncountable (paperwork)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Forms, letters, reports and other papers that must be filled in or kept, especially for school, work or the government. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m1)

2) The boring work of writing, filling in and sorting such papers, often seen as getting in the way of real work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m2)

3) (informal) Any official record, even on a computer, such as online forms. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life adults talk about paperwork for a new house, a passport, a school trip or a doctor's visit; a permission slip is paperwork too. In stories a tired teacher or officer sits behind «piles of paperwork». In school maths it can be a word problem about sheets or forms to be counted or shared. Phrases: «do the paperwork», «fill in the paperwork», «a pile of paperwork», «drowning in paperwork», «sort out the paperwork».

### examples

- Dad stayed up late doing the paperwork for our new car. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x1)
- You must hand in the paperwork before the school trip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x2)
- The vet asked us to fill in some paperwork about our dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x3)
- Mrs Lee had a mountain of paperwork on her desk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x4)
- The police officer said the paperwork would take an hour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x5)
- Each form in the paperwork had 4 pages, and there were 12 forms. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x6)
- Moving house means lots of paperwork. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x7)
- "Ugh, more paperwork," groaned the coach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/paperwork/#x8)

### note

Uncountable: say «a lot of paperwork», «some paperwork», «a piece of paperwork», never «a paperwork» or «paperworks». It is one word. Often sounds slightly negative — dull but necessary.

### In the corpora

- [Moving means packing everything, doing paperwork and saying goodbye all at once, so it is very stressful.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/10-moving-house-and-renting-a-home/17/)
- [Banks and companies use dry, technical words so that debt and job losses sound like ordinary paperwork.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/20-debt-and-jobs/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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