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# sir

«sir» in Mova's school dictionary: **A polite way to speak to a man whose name you do not…** — 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

noun (sir, sirs); also a title (Sir)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A polite way to speak to a man whose name you do not know, or to a man in charge: "Can I help you, sir?" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#m1)

2) In the UK and Ireland, what pupils call a male teacher. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#m2)

3) "Sir" with a capital S is a title for a knight in the UK: "Sir Isaac Newton". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, children may call a male teacher "Sir" and a female teacher "Miss". In shops and restaurants, staff say "sir" to be polite. In history, knights are called "Sir". Phrases: yes sir, no sir, Dear Sir.

### examples

- Excuse me, sir, you dropped your glove. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x1)
- Please, sir, may I go to the toilet? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x2)
- Sir Isaac Newton was a famous scientist. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x3)
- "Yes, sir!" said the soldier. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x4)
- The waiter asked, "Would you like water, sir?" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x5)
- Our class calls Mr Brown "Sir". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x6)
- Letters used to begin "Dear Sir". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x7)
- "No, sir, by design," returned Aladdin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sir/#x8)

### note

For women the matching words are "madam" or "ma'am", and "Miss" for a teacher. As a title it is used with the first name: "Sir Isaac", never "Sir Newton". In the USA, children may say "sir" to show respect, especially in the South.

### In the corpora

- [The Rat tells him «You needn't ‘sir’ me quite so much».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/36/)
- [You call teachers Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss with their surname, or Sir and Miss in many British schools.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/256-questions-group-work-and-adults-at-school/3/)
- [Teachers are called Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss with their surname, or Sir and Miss in many British schools.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/256-questions-group-work-and-adults-at-school/13/)
- [Ben said later he wished he'd just said «Ask Jamie, sir.»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/436-covering-for-a-friend/5/)
- [A pupil once told Mr Ellis, "Sir, you're wrong, tomatoes are vegetables!" He wasn't wrong.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/34-teachers-who-listen-teachers-who-get-cross-and-when-the-teacher-is-right-after-all/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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