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# positive

«positive» in Mova's school dictionary: **sure: «I'm positive» means «I'm completely sure»** — 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

adjective (positive, more positive, most positive); noun (a positive, positives); adverb positively

### meaning for a pupil

1) Positive means sure: «I'm positive» means «I'm completely sure». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m1)

2) Positive means hopeful and cheerful, thinking good things will happen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m2)

3) Positive means good or useful: a positive change. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m3)

4) In maths, a positive number is greater than zero. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m4)

5) A positive test result shows that something is there, such as an illness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m5)

6) In science, positive is one of the two kinds of electric charge, marked +. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

Maths: positive numbers are above 0 on a number line; negative numbers are below 0; zero is neither. Science: batteries have a positive (+) and a negative (−) end; magnets and charges attract or repel. Everyday life and well-being: positive thinking, a positive attitude, positive feedback. Health: a positive test for a virus means the virus was found. Phrases: think positive, stay positive, positive number, positive and negative, a positive attitude.

### examples

- Are you positive you locked the door? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x1)
- 5 is a positive number and −5 is a negative number. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x2)
- Try to stay positive even when things go wrong. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x3)
- The new playground had a positive effect on the town. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x4)
- Her test came back positive, so she stayed home. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x5)
- Connect the wire to the positive end of the battery. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x6)
- The teacher gave us positive comments on our stories. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x7)
- Any number greater than zero is positive. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x8)
- In addition to Fortuna, the Romans worshipped Felicitas as the giver of positive good fortune. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/positive/#x9)

### note

In maths: positive = greater than 0. Zero is not positive and not negative. Adding a positive number makes a total bigger; subtracting it makes it smaller. Trap: a «positive» medical test is usually not good news — it means the illness was found. Opposite: negative.

### In the corpora

- ["Differently abled" means disabled; it is a polite, positive-sounding phrase.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/6/)
- [Parents and teachers often describe a child's problems in kind, positive-sounding words so the child and family are not hurt.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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