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

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

# tendency

«tendency» in Mova's school dictionary: **If you have a tendency to do something, you often do it…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a tendency, tendencies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) If you have a tendency to do something, you often do it or are likely to do it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#m1)

2) A general direction in which something is changing or moving; a trend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#m2)

3) (maths) «Central tendency»: the middle or typical value of a set of data (mean, median, mode). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday speech: «He has a tendency to forget his PE kit.» In science, «metals have a tendency to rust». In maths and statistics, measures of central tendency are the mean, median and mode. Phrases: «a tendency to», «natural tendency», «central tendency».

### examples

- He has a tendency to talk too fast when he is nervous. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x1)
- Cats have a tendency to sleep a lot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x2)
- Prices have a tendency to rise every year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x3)
- The mean, median and mode are measures of central tendency. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x4)
- Iron has a tendency to rust when it gets wet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x5)
- There is a tendency for children to eat more sweets at Halloween. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x6)
- Evil tendencies are shown in early life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tendency/#x7)

### note

Plural «tendencies». Verb «tend» (to tend to = to usually do). Followed by «to» + verb: a tendency to forget. Maths: central tendency = average-type values.

### Trees and pragmatics

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