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Definition of sentence

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of sentence  (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

  • judgement

Examples of sentence in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sentence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin sententia feeling, opinion, from *sentent-, *sentens , irregular present participle of sentire to feel — more at sense

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 5

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing sentence

  • death sentence
  • life sentence
  • open sentence
  • loose sentence
  • pass sentence
  • periodic sentence

sentence adverb

  • run - on sentence
  • pronounce sentence
  • topic sentence
  • sub - sentence
  • sentence stress
  • sentence fragment
  • sentence / condemn to death
  • suspended sentence
  • pre - sentence

Articles Related to sentence

churchill

Prepositions, Ending a Sentence With

Yes, you can end a sentence with a preposition

Dictionary Entries Near sentence

Cite this entry.

“Sentence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentence. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of sentence.

Kids Definition of sentence  (Entry 2 of 2)

Legal Definition

Legal definition of sentence.

Note: General sentences are impermissible.

Legal Definition of sentence  (Entry 2 of 2)

Old French, opinion, judicial sentence, from Latin sententia , ultimately from sentire to feel, think, express an opinion

More from Merriam-Webster on sentence

Nglish: Translation of sentence for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of sentence for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sentence

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Sentence Definition and Examples in English Grammar

ThoughtCo. / Claire Cohen

  • An Introduction to Punctuation
  • Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
  • M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
  • B.A., English, State University of New York

A sentence is the largest independent unit of grammar : it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. The word "sentence" is from the Latin for "to feel." The adjective form of the word is "sentential." The sentence is traditionally (and inadequately) defined as a word or group of words that expresses a complete idea and that includes a subject and a verb .

Types of Sentence Structures

The four basic sentence structures are the:

  • Simple : A sentence with only one  independent clause .
  • Compound : Two (or more)  simple sentences  joined by a  conjunction  or an appropriate  mark of punctuation .
  • Complex : A sentence that contains an independent clause (or  main clause ) and at least one  dependent clause .
  • Compound-complex : A sentence with two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Functional Types of Sentences

  • Declarative : "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. "  (Mark Twain)
  • Interrogative :   "But what is the difference between literature and journalism? Journalism is unreadable and literature is not read." (Oscar Wilde)
  • Imperative : "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." (Mark Twain)
  • Exclamatory : "To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!" (H. L. Mencken)

Definitions and Observations on Sentences

"I am trying to say it all in one sentence, between one Cap and one period."

(William Faulkner in a letter to Malcolm Cowley)

"The term 'sentence' is widely used to refer to quite different types of unit. Grammatically, it is the highest unit and consists of one independent clause, or two or more related clauses. Orthographically and rhetorically, it is that unit which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark."
(Angela Downing, "English Grammar: A University Course," 2nd ed. Routledge, 2006)

"I have taken as my definition of a sentence any combination of words whatsoever, beyond the simple naming of an object of sense."

(Kathleen Carter Moore, "The Mental Development of a Child," 1896)

"[A sentence is a] unit of speech constructed according to language-dependent rules, which is relatively complete and independent in respect to content, grammatical structure, and intonation."
(Hadumo Bussmann, "Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics." Trans. by Lee Forester et al. Routledge, 1996)

"A written sentence is a word or group of words that conveys meaning to the listener, can be responded to or is part of a response, and is punctuated."

(Andrew S. Rothstein and Evelyn Rothstein, "English Grammar Instruction That Works!" Corwin Press, 2009)

"None of the usual definitions of a sentence really says much, but every sentence ought somehow to organize a pattern of thought, even if it does not always reduce that thought to bite-sized pieces."
(Richard Lanham, "Revising Prose." Scribner's, 1979)
"The sentence has been defined as the largest unit for which there are rules of grammar."
(Christian Lehmann, "Theoretical Implications of Grammaticalization Phenomena," Published in "The Role of Theory in Language Description," ed. by William A. Foley. Mouton de Gruyter, 1993)

The Notional Definition of a Sentence

Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson give a different take in explaining what a sentence is and does:

"It is sometimes said that a sentence expresses a complete thought. This is a notional definition: it defines a term by the notion or idea it conveys. The difficulty with this definition lies in fixing what is meant by a 'complete thought.' There are notices, for example, that seem to be complete in themselves but are not generally regarded as sentences: Exit, Danger, 50 mph speed limit ...On the other hand, there are sentences that clearly consist of more than one thought. Here is one relatively simple example:
This week marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, a fundamental work for the whole of modern science and a key influence on the philosophy of the European Enlightenment.
How many 'complete thoughts' are there in this sentence? We should at least recognize that the part after the comma introduces two additional points about Newton's book: (1) that it is a fundamental work for the whole of modern science, and (2) that it was a key influence on the philosophy of the European Enlightenment. Yet this example would be acknowledged by all as a single sentence, and it is written as a single sentence."
(Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson, "An Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd ed." Pearson, 2002)

Another Definition of a Sentence

D.J. Allerton provides an alternative definition of a sentence:

"Traditional attempts to define the sentence were generally either psychological or logical-analytic in nature: the former type spoke of 'a complete thought' or some other inaccessible psychological phenomenon; the latter type, following Aristotle, expected to find every sentence made up of a logical subject and logical predicate, units that themselves rely on the sentence for their definition. A more fruitful approach is that of [Otto] Jespersen (1924: 307), who suggests testing the completeness and independence of a sentence, by assessing its potential for standing alone, as a complete utterance."
(D. J. Allerton. "Essentials of Grammatical Theory." Routledge, 1979)

Two-Part Definition of a Sentence

Stanley Fish felt that a sentence can only be defined in two parts:

"A sentence is a structure of logical relationships. In its bare form, this proposition is hardly edifying, which is why I immediately supplement it with a simple exercise. 'Here,' I say, 'are five words randomly chosen; turn them into a sentence.' (The first time I did this the words were coffee, should, book, garbage and quickly .) In no time at all I am presented with 20 sentences, all perfectly coherent and all quite different. Then comes the hard part. 'What is it,' I ask, 'that you did? What did it take to turn a random list of words into a sentence?' A lot of fumbling and stumbling and false starts follow, but finally someone says, 'I put the words into a relationship with one another.'...Well, my bottom line can be summarized in two statements: (1) a sentence is an organization of items in the world; and (2) a sentence is a structure of logical relationships."
(Stanley Fish, "Devoid of Content." The New York Times , May 31, 2005. Also "How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One." HarperCollins, 2011)

The Lighter Side of Sentences

Some authors a humorous view of a sentence:

"One day the Nouns were clustered in the street. An adjective walked by, with her dark beauty. The Nouns were struck, moved, changed. The next day a Verb drove up, and created the Sentence..."
(Kenneth Koch, "Permanently." Published in "The Collected Poems of Kenneth Koch." Borzoi Books, 2005)
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  • antecedent (grammar)
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What Is a Sentence?

  • The cat sat on the mat.

A More Formal Definition of Sentence

Oxford Dictionary

Table of Contents

The Four Types of Sentence

The four sentence structures, (1) simple sentence, (2) complex sentence, (3) compound sentence, (4) compound-complex sentence.

Why Understanding Sentences Is Important

Video Lesson

four types of sentence

(1) Declarative Sentence

  • He has every attribute of a dog except loyalty. (Politician Thomas P Gore)
  • I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. (Comedian Rita Rudner)

(2) Imperative Sentence

  • When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. (Philosopher Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862)

(3) Interrogative Sentence

  • Who knew that dog saliva can mend a broken heart? (Author Jennifer Neal)

(4) Exclamatory Sentence

  • In Washington, it's dog eat dog. In academia, it's exactly the opposite! (Politician Robert Reich)

The Subject Could Be Implied.

  • You can't surprise a man with a dog . (Screenwriter Cindy Chupack)
  • Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock. (Actor Will Rogers)
  • When you're on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog . (Cartoonist Peter Steiner)
  • Cry "Havoc ," and let slip the dogs of war . (Playwright William Shakespeare)
  • When a dog bites a man, that is not news because it happens so often, but if a man bites a dog, that is news . (Editor John B Bogart)

(Reason 1) Avoid the run-on sentence.

wrong cross

  • Don't play hide and seek; no one would look for you.
  • I like a woman with a head on her shoulders – I hate necks. (Actor Steve Martin)
  • My friend is a procrastinator...he's afraid of Saturday the 14th.

(Reason 2) Punctuate your sentences correctly.

(1) deciding whether to use a comma with the subordinate clause in a complex sentence..

  • When I was six , I had a wind-up Evil Knievel motorbike.
  • I had a wind-up Evil Knievel motorbike when I was six .
  • When you're on the internet , nobody knows you're a dog . (Cartoonist Peter Steiner)
  • Nobody knows you're a dog when you're on the internet .

(2) Deciding whether to put a comma before a conjunction.

  • Lee likes pies and cakes .
  • Lee likes pies , and he likes cakes .
  • Go , and never darken my towels again . (Comedian Groucho Marx)

correct tick

  • Non-rabid wolves have attacked and killed people (mainly children) , but this is rare . They live away from people and have developed a fear of humans from hunters and shepherds .
  • They live away from people, and they have developed a fear of humans from hunters and shepherds .
  • Some men are born mediocre , some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them . (Playwright Joseph Heller)
  • "Veni, vidi, vici" [ I came , I saw , I conquered .] (Roman emperor Julius Caesar)

(Reason 3) As the subject of an imperative sentence is "you," you can't use "myself."

(reason 4) don't use a question mark with a declarative sentence that includes an indirect question..

Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos .

  • You can't write a sentence, put a comma, and then write another sentence. That's an error called a run-on sentence or comma splice.
  • If you have a fronted adverbial, use a comma.
  • Don't use a comma if your adverbial is at the back.
  • Use a comma before a conjunction (e.g., and , or , but ) that joins two independent clauses.
  • I like tea but hate coffee .
  • I like tea , but I hate coffee .
  • Be careful when using myself in an imperative sentence.
  • Don't be tempted to put a question mark at the end of a declarative sentence that contains an indirect question.

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Course: Grammar   >   Unit 8

What is a sentence.

  • Three types of sentences
  • Declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences
  • Exclamations

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sen•tence

  • ablative absolute
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  • coordinate clause
  • sensory processing disorder
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Definition of sentence noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

  • Does the sentence contain an adverb?
  • I was too stunned to finish my sentence .
  • There are mistakes in grammar, sentence structure and punctuation.
  • Let's take that paragraph apart sentence by sentence.
  • Complete the following sentence: ‘I love dictionaries because…’.
  • Cooke was so nervous he could barely string a sentence together.
  • He can barely form a grammatical sentence.
  • He tells her not to end her sentences with prepositions.
  • I kept reading the same sentence over and over again.
  • Peter finished Jane's sentence for her.
  • The argument can be distilled into a single sentence.
  • Troy uttered one last sentence.
  • Try to keep your sentences short.
  • the opening sentence of the novel
  • contain something
  • have something

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The Civil Fraud Ruling on Donald Trump, Annotated

By Kate Christobek

Former President Donald J. Trump was penalized $355 million , plus millions more in interest, and banned for three years from serving in any top roles at a New York company, including his own, in a ruling on Friday by Justice Arthur F. Engoron. The decision comes after the state's attorney general, Letitia James, sued Mr. Trump, members of his family and his company in 2022.

The ruling expands on Justice Engoron’s decision last fall , which found that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraudulent claims. Mr. Trump will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions; he has already appealed last fall’s ruling.

The New York Times annotated the document.

Download the original PDF .

Page 1 of undefined PDF document.

New York Times Analysis

This ruling by Justice Arthur F. Engoron is a result of a 2022 lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James , against Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization; his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump; the company’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and former controller Jeffrey McConney; and several of their related entities. Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, was also initially a defendant until an appeals court dismissed the case against her.

Page 2 of undefined PDF document.

The law under which Ms. James sued, known by its shorthand 63(12), requires the plaintiff to show a defendant’s conduct was deceptive . If that standard is met, a judge can impose severe punishment, including forfeiting the money obtained through fraud. Ms. James has also used this law against the oil company ExxonMobil, the tobacco brand Juul and the pharma executive Martin Shkreli.

Page 4 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron is now providing a background of this case. This ruling comes after a three-year investigation by the attorney general’s office and the conclusion of a trial that ended last month. But this likely won’t be Mr. Trump’s last word on the matter — he will appeal the financial penalty and is likely to appeal other restrictions, as he has already appealed other rulings.

In late 2022, Justice Engoron assigned a former federal judge, Barbara Jones, to serve as a monitor at the Trump Organization and tasked her with keeping an eye on the company and its lending relationships. Last month, she issued a report citing inconsistencies in its financial reporting, which “may reflect a lack of adequate internal controls.”

Page 5 of undefined PDF document.

Here, Justice Engoron is laying out the laws he considered in his ruling beyond 63(12). The attorney general’s lawsuit included allegations of violations of falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and related conspiracy offenses.

Justice Engoron is explaining the decision, issued a week before the trial, in which he found that Mr. Trump’s financial statements were filled with fraud , fundamentally shaping the rest of the trial.

Page 6 of undefined PDF document.

For over 50 pages, Justice Engoron describes his conclusions about the testimony of all of the witnesses who spoke during the trial.

Page 8 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron discusses Mr. McConney’s important role in preparing Mr. Trump’s financial statements. The judge points out that Mr. McConney prepared all the valuations on the statements in consultation with Mr. Weisselberg.

Page 24 of undefined PDF document.

In his discussion of Mr. Weisselberg, Justice Engoron calls his testimony in the trial “intentionally evasive.” Justice Engoron then brings up Mr. Weisselberg’s separation agreement from the Trump Organization, which prohibited him from voluntarily cooperating with any entities “adverse” to the organization. Justice Engoron says that this renders Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony highly unreliable.

Page 27 of undefined PDF document.

When Donald Trump Jr. testified in court, he disavowed responsibility for his father’s financial statements despite serving as a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust while his father was president. But Justice Engoron specifically cites here that Donald Trump Jr. certified that he was responsible for the financial statements, and testified that he intended for the banks to rely on them and that the statements were “materially accurate.”

Page 30 of undefined PDF document.

During his testimony, Eric Trump, the Trump Organization’s de facto chief executive, initially denied knowing about his father’s financial statements until this case. As Justice Engoron points out here, Eric Trump eventually conceded to knowing about them as early as 2013. As a result, Justice Engoron calls Eric Trump’s credibility “severely damaged.”

Page 33 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron points to Mr. Trump’s testimony when he took the witness stand in November when Mr. Trump acknowledged that he helped put together his annual financial statements. Mr. Trump said he would see them and occasionally have suggestions.

Page 35 of undefined PDF document.

After four pages of describing Mr. Trump’s testimony, Justice Engoron says Mr. Trump rarely responded to the questions asked and frequently interjected long, irrelevant speeches, which all “severely compromised his credibility.”

Page 38 of undefined PDF document.

For several pages, Justice Engoron provides background on specific assets that Mr. Trump included in his annual financial statements.

Page 61 of undefined PDF document.

The judge is clarifying that Ms. James had to prove her claims by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning she had to demonstrate it was more likely than not that Mr. Trump and the co-defendants should be held liable. This is a lower standard than that of a criminal trial, which requires that evidence be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Page 76 of undefined PDF document.

During the trial, Mr. Trump and his legal team tried to shift the blame for any inaccuracies in his financial statements onto his outside accountants. But Justice Engoron criticizes that argument here.

Page 77 of undefined PDF document.

During the monthslong trial, Mr. Trump, his legal team and several witnesses stressed that real estate appraisals are an art, not a science. But here it’s clear Justice Engoron, while agreeing with that sentiment, also believes it’s deceptive when different appraisals rely on different assumptions.

Page 78 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron is now going through the defendants one by one and articulating the evidence that shows each of their “intent to defraud,” which is required by the statute against falsifying business records. Notably, his first paragraph describing the former president’s intent provides examples including Mr. Trump’s awareness that his triplex apartment was not 30,000 square feet and his valuation of Mar-a-Lago as a single-family residence even though it was deeded as a social club.

Page 79 of undefined PDF document.

Among the defendants, Justice Engoron finds only Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney liable for insurance fraud. Here, he doesn’t provide an explanation for why the other defendants, including Mr. Trump and his adult sons, were not found liable, and he says that both Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney made false representations to insurance companies about Mr. Trump’s financial statements.

While Mr. Trump and his adult sons were not found liable for insurance fraud, here Justice Engoron finds them liable for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, explaining that they all “aided and abetted” the conspiracy to commit insurance fraud by falsifying business records.

Page 82 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron here adopts the approximations of Michiel McCarty, the attorney general’s expert witness. Justice Engoron says Mr. McCarty testified “reliably and convincingly,” and finds that the defendants’ fraud saved them over $168 million in interest.

Page 83 of undefined PDF document.

In finding that the defendants were able to purchase the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., through their use of the fraudulent financial statements, Justice Engoron rules that the defendants’ proceeds from the sale of the post office in 2022 should be considered “ill-gotten gains.” He penalizes Donald Trump and his companies over $126 million, and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump $4 million each, for this one property.

Page 84 of undefined PDF document.

Justice Engoron blasts the defendants for failing to admit that they were wrong in their valuations — adding that “their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” He says that this inability to admit error makes him believe they will continue their fraudulent activities unless “judicially restrained.”

Page 88 of undefined PDF document.

The judge cites other examples of Mr. Trump’s “ongoing propensity to engage in fraud,” bringing up lawsuits against Trump University and the Donald J. Trump Foundation. He also notably raises two criminal cases brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office: one against Mr. Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and falsifying business records , and another against the Trump Organization, which was convicted of 17 criminal counts including tax fraud .

Justice Engoron states that Judge Barbara Jones, who has been serving as an independent monitor at the Trump Organization since 2022, will continue in that role for at least three years. He clarifies that going forward, her role will be enhanced and she will review Trump Organization financial disclosures before they are submitted to any third party, to ensure that there are no material misstatements.

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In addition to extending the monitor’s tenure and strengthening her powers, Justice Engoron also took the unusual step of ordering that an independent compliance director be installed inside The Trump organization, and that they report directly to the monitor.

— William K. Rashbaum

In his pre-trial order, Justice Engoron ordered the cancellation of some of Mr. Trump’s business licenses . But here, he pulls back on that decision and instead says that any “restructuring and potential dissolution” would be up to Ms. Jones, the independent monitor.

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Justice Engoron lays out his bans against the defendants, ruling that Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney cannot serve as officers or directors of any corporation or legal entity in New York for the next three years, and bans his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump for two years from the same. He also prohibits Mr. Trump from applying for any loans from any New York banks for the next three years. The ruling goes further in the cases of Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney, permanently barring them from serving in the financial control function of any New York business.

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Justice Engoron also ordered that Mr. Trump and his sons pay the interest, pushing the penalty to $450 million, according to Ms. James.

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An earlier version of this article misstated how long the adult sons of former President Donald J. Trump — Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — were barred by Justice Arthur F. Engoron from serving as officers or directors of any corporation or legal entity in New York. It was two years, not three. The article also misstated the number of pages in which Justice Engoron describes his conclusions about the testimony of all of the non-defendant witnesses. It was under 50 pages, not over 50 pages. The article also misstated the number of pages in the section in which Justice Engoron provides background on specific assets that Mr. Trump included in his annual financial statements. It was several pages, not more than a dozen pages.

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How did cultural practices over Lunar New Year come about and what do they symbolise?

Year of the Dragon

The new year is all about having a renewed outlook filled with fresh hopes for all the positives — good luck, good health, prosperity, and happiness.

For some Chinese communities observing Lunar New Year, adhering to specific rituals helps set the tone for the rest of the year.

We asked you to share some of your auspicious practices so we can find out more about their origins and the symbolic meanings they uphold.

Let's unpack.

A couple wearing face masks picking out red decorations from a stall

The Chinese culture is doused in symbolism and homophones, with origins rooted in legends that are thousands of years old, explains Ning Zhang, a Chinese language expert from the University of Adelaide.

With that in mind, she says every practice is intended to uphold the positive themes that underpin any Lunar New Year or Spring Festival celebration.

The list of 'what not to do'

Can't sweep the floor or do any cleaning on the first day of the new year. — Anita
I was told to never sweep the floor, wash my hair, or buy new shoes on Chinese New Year. — Emnabelle
You have to clean the whole house before Chinese New Year reunion dinner. Nor can you get a haircut or buy shoes in the first seven days of the new year as well. — Grant
1) Not washing or cutting your hair on new year's day! 2) Not sweeping the house or cleaning around the new year. — Fran
We are not allowed to sweep or clean the house on the first day of the Chinese New Year. This is to ensure we don't sweep away any luck or good fortune. — Michelle

Pan Wang, an Associate Professor in Chinese and Asian studies from the University of New South Wales, explains how homophones come into full swing during celebrations.

Dr Wang says the Chinese word for shoes (xie) has the same pronunciation as evil (xie).

So to buy new shoes is to attract evil spirits and to throw away old ones is to ward off evil spirits.

There are also several variations behind why you shouldn't wash or cut your hair on New Year's Day.

One of which she says, plays on homophones but also links back to a grim past.

"In history, the Manchus imposed their identity on the Han, by forcing them to clean their foreheads and braid their hair, which was rejected by the Han," Dr Wang says.

So missing this ancient practice (si jiu) speaks the same as "uncles will die" (si jiu).

That brought about the saying: "If you cut your hair in the first month of the Lunar New Year, your uncles will die."

Etiquette when visiting others

Don't gift odd amounts of money in hong bao (especially not unlucky number four). Wear red for luck. — Susannah
We only say positive things all day and wear lots of red for good luck! — Anna
Must visit those older than you on New Year's Day and bring fruits to pay respects.  —   Cassie

Dr Zhang explains the art behind gifting hong baos — envelopes of money.

It draws on the concept of double happiness, derived from the Chinese characters for joy, that's often written in pairs as part of well-wishes during weddings.

"So anything in double is considered to be better or luckier," Dr Zhang says. 

And she says this transfers on how even numbers are preferred over odd ones.

Fruits are also seen as emblems of well-wishes, often by wordplay.

For example, apples (ping) sounds the same as peace (ping) and oranges (cheng) sounds the same for success (cheng).

"Fruits are not only meant for gifting, they can also go on dining tables as decorations to invite good wishes for yourself," says Dr Zhang.

Feasting on foods with meaning

The first dish we eat is Lo han jai (Buddha's Delight) to symbolise purifying and cleansing and we only eat our nian gao (new year sweet rice cake) on the second day of the new year to officially ring in the new year. — Anna
Eat Yee Sang (fish salad) together so that you have abundance in the new year because fish = yu = homophone for abundance. This salad is tossed together by everybody while saying "lo hei" out loud. The higher the tossing, the more abundance in the new year. — Susannah
The last home cooked meal is New Year's Eve dinner and, until the third day of the New Year, the kitchen is closed. Only leftovers are consumed in the first two days. This is as implied that the good fortune of abundant food from previous year will continue to this year. — Jack

"What you put on the dinner table or what you eat also varies between regions and even countries," Dr Zhang says.

For instance, she says, Yee Sang is a dish commonly found in South-East Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.

It consists of various vegetables sporting an array of colours that each represent different wishes.

Where did it all start?

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when and where these traditions originated from.

"Cultural customs and traditions are passed on generation by generation through word of mouth," Dr Wang says.

She believes these practices have roots stemming from various sources such as history, religion, science and feng shui — an art relating to the harmony and flow of energy.

Customs and rituals may also vary between groups of people, depending on regions and dialects where words can hold different meanings.

Don't call it superstition

Dr Wang advises against labelling these cultural customs as superstition.

"The word 'superstition' (mixin) is always coupled with the words 'feudal thoughts' (fengjian) in a Chinese expression known as 'fengjian mixin,'" she says.

"The term is perceived negatively by the public where it was heavily attacked in a campaign during the Cultural Revolution in China back in the 1960s to 70s."

Tingting Liu, who specialises in social and cultural anthropology at the University of Technology in Sydney, expands on this.

"In mainland China, we can see the co-existence of anti-superstition campaigns and the emergence of ritualistic practices to attract luck and the likes," Dr Liu says. 

Despite the past campaigns, Dr Liu says those practices continue to exist until today and may be more robust in communities outside China because they were not affected by the revolution.

She describes current practices as a "compromise", where some are retained while others may be simplified over generations. 

No different from horoscopes or tarot readings

Speaking from personal observation, Dr Liu says, "For my generation, we believe in astrology signs and tarot readings."

She says they are no different from the rituals and customs observed over the New Year because "they are all centred upon ourselves".

"These belief systems help individuals to reduce the uncertainty in their lives," Dr Liu says, especially in the face of a tumultuous year with poor economic outlook.

The emergence of new generations has shifted the focus of cultural practices to be more individualistic, moving away from the Confucius roots which operates on a hierarchy that preferences male, says Dr Liu.

"It's less about the whole family or whole village or country now."

A way to uphold cultural heritage

Dr Wang says whether these practices ring true or not is irrelevant.

"It exists if you believe in it — as part of a tradition or cultural heritage," she says.

"People adhere to the rules because it shows respect for the tradition, including ancestors and their sayings, and demonstrates their reverences."

A little girl with pigtails and boy with spiked hair bow down to two adults while holding red packets

Nostalgia is another aspect, she says.

For instance, following the way of life of a beloved deceased family member could be one way of honouring them.

Furthermore, she says "there is no harm in following the advice" and to an extent, they also "enrich the cultural experience of the new year".

Dr Wang acknowledges that choosing to believe is a personal choice and practices should not be generalised as they can be unique to groups of people.

However, she believes continuing on traditions form "a collective identity and advocacy that conveys shared values".

"Shared beliefs also bring people closer together and distinguishes them from other cultural groups."

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The Trump fraud trial verdict goes well beyond ordering the ex-president to pay $355 million. Here's what the ruling means.

  • Trump, his eldest sons, and the Trump Organization must repay $364 million from a decade of fraud.
  • Friday's verdict also bars Trump from running a New York business for three years.
  • Judge Arthur Engoron wrote that Trump's frauds "leap off the page and shock the conscience."

Insider Today

In a scathing verdict that punishes a decade of deceit, the judge in Donald Trump's New York civil-fraud case on Friday slammed the GOP frontrunner, his two eldest sons, and his company with a nearly $364 million cash penalty.

"The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience," the verdict by the New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron , who has presided over the case for more than three years, said.

While Trump is personally on the hook for almost $355 million of that penalty, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump must pay $4 million each, and the former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg must pay $1 million.

But the verdict hits way beyond just Trump's wallet. It targets his real-estate and golf-resort empire, the Trump Organization, in two ways that Trump has pushed against for years.

First, the verdict wrests control of the company further from the former president and his two eldest sons, leaving major company decisions to a yet-named "independent director of compliance" who'll operate under Trump's court-appointed monitor's continuing watch .

Second, it sets a three-year ban on Trump running the Trump Organization or any other business in the city and state where he made his name — and where he first seized a national spotlight as a brash real-estate mogul. For Trump, it's the commercial equivalent of being run out of town on a rail.

Significantly — and this is a big silver lining for Trump — the verdict reverses the most unfriendly elements of the judge's pre-trial " corporate death penalty " judgment from September.

He no longer has to surrender all of the Trump Organization's New York operating licenses, and the verdict does not mention the forced sale of any Trump properties.

The verdict caps a five-year effort by the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James .

On Friday afternoon, James issued a statement celebrating the verdict.

She said that Trump has engaged in fraud for years to enrich his own family and company.

Now, he and his codefendants will have to pay more than $450 million, including interest.

"While he may have authored the 'Art of the Deal,' our case revealed that his business was based on the art of the steal," she said.

Trump is expected to immediately appeal, likely putting these and other punishments from the 92-page verdict on ice well past the November election.

But in the coming weeks, Trump will still have to spend millions on a surety bond — a bond guaranteeing performance of a contract or obligation — to guarantee he can pay whatever dollar figure, plus interest, an appellate court ultimately upholds.

Interest also applies to the penalties, potentially adding millions more to his ultimate verdict price tag.

"When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants' fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences," Engoron wrote Friday.

The verdict holds Trump civilly liable, based on Engoron's three-month Manhattan bench trial, for leading a conspiracy to commit business and insurance fraud with help from his two eldest sons and a pair of long-standing Trump Organization executives.

"Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological," Engoron wrote.

"They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money," the verdict said.

"The documents prove this over and over again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin," he added. "Defendants did not commit murder or arson. They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways."

In a statement, a Trump Organization spokesperson decried the verdict as a "gross miscarriage of justice."

"Every member of the New York business community, no matter the industry, should be gravely concerned with this gross overreach and brazen attempt by the Attorney General to exert limitless power where no private or public harm has been established," the spokesperson said in the statement. "If allowed to stand, this ruling will only further expedite the continuing exodus of companies from New York."

Read Friday's verdict here .

"Today, justice has been served. This is a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules — even former presidents," James said in her statement Friday. 

" When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of honest and hardworking people," James continued. "Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage to buy a home, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them. There simply cannot be different rules for different people .

Some lesser penalties

The verdict also bans Trump and the Trump Organization from borrowing from New York banks or purchasing real estate in the state for three years. James had asked for a five-year ban on such buying and borrowing in her lawsuit.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are banned from running a New York business for two years. James had asked for five-year bans for the brothers.

And it bans the two former executives, the ex-CFO Weisselberg and the former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney, from controlling another New York company's finances.

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Watch: Trump fights back as fraud trial begins

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Drunk people in a party

Sloshed, plastered and gazeboed: why Britons have 546 words for drunkenness

Combine ribald humour with peculiar sentence construction and a genuinely horrifying drinking culture, and what do you get? A dictionary’s worth of ‘drunkonyms’

Name: Drunkonyms.

Age: As old as alcohol itself.

Quantity: 546.

I’m not entirely sure I know what a drunkonym is. Let me help you out. The Sámi people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia are said to have more than 300 words for snow. For example, “Åppås” means untouched winter snow, “Säásj” refers to old snow that has become loose and coarse and “Tsievve” is snow that has become so hard that not even reindeer can dig through it.

This is fascinating, but what’s your point? My point is that, just as the Sámi have hundreds of words for snow, British people have hundreds of words for “drunk”. Five-hundred and forty-six, in fact.

This sounds like an exaggeration. Fine, I’ll list them. Pissed. Sloshed. Stewed. Wrecked. Hammered. Bladdered. Plastered. Mullered. Pickled. Bevvied. Rubbered. Tanked. Cock-eyed. Zombied. Blootered. Trolleyed. Rat-arsed. Wankered. Shit-faced. Arseholed …

OK, OK, I get it. The list goes on and on and on.

What a source of national pride this is. It should be – apparently other languages don’t do this. What do you notice about the words I just told you?

They’re pretty vulgar ? Well, yes. But also they all end in “ed”. British people have three things going for them: an absurd sense of humour, a peculiar form of sentence construction and a genuinely horrifying drinking culture. Combine the three and, if you add “ed” to basically any noun, everyone will be able to understand that you’re referring to intoxication.

Rubbish. Try it.

Fine. I was wallpapered out of my mind last night. Oh wow! See? It really works. Watch this: I got so oreganoed last night that I ended up vomiting on a policeman.

This is really a thing. It is. Prof Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer published a study about it in the Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association after spending a year in Britain. She points out that the “ed” suffix would never work in Germany, because words would lose their meaning. Meanwhile, “‘Gazeboed’ and ‘carparked’ are funny because there is no direct relation between the base word and the meaning ‘drunk’,” she says.

But not all drunk words end with “ed”. True. There’s squiffy, tipsy, merry and half cut, for example. But these are slightly more chaste descriptions, denoting moderate intoxication. Bung an “ed” on the end of a word, though, and people will know you poisoned yourself.

Fun. Actually, that’s one of the things that Sanchez-Stockhammer mentions in her study. One of the reasons that the British have so many drunkonyms could be because it allows us to discuss drinking in a lighthearted way that helps us to conceal all the terrible consequences of habitual binge-drinking. So, er, yay for us, I guess.

Do say: “Like the Sámi with snow, the British have hundreds of words for drunk.”

Don’t say: “Unlike the Sámi, all our words mean the same thing: mortally embarrassing ourselves in front of people who love us.”

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  1. Sentence Definition & Meaning

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    (sentəns ) Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense sentences , present participle sentencing , past tense, past participle sentenced 1. countable noun A sentence is a group of words which, when they are written down, begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark.

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    a punishment that a judge gives to someone who has committed a crime: a 30-year sentence sentence verb [ T ] uk / ˈsentəns / us B2 to give a punishment to someone who has committed a crime: [ often passive ] She was sentenced to six months in prison. (Definition of sentence from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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  23. The Civil Fraud Ruling on Donald Trump, Annotated

    By Kate Christobek. Feb. 16, 2024. Former President Donald J. Trump was penalized $355 million, plus millions more in interest, and banned for three years from serving in any top roles at a New ...

  24. How did cultural practices over Lunar New Year come about and what do

    "The word 'superstition' (mixin) is always coupled with the words 'feudal thoughts' (fengjian) in a Chinese expression known as 'fengjian mixin,'" she says.

  25. Trump Fraud Trial Verdict Goes Beyond $354M Payment; Ruling Explained

    The Trump fraud trial verdict goes well beyond ordering the ex-president to pay $355 million. Here's what the ruling means. Laura Italiano and Jacob Shamsian. Feb 16, 2024, 12:25 PM PST. Trump ...

  26. Sloshed, plastered and gazeboed: why Britons have 546 words for

    Combine ribald humour with peculiar sentence construction and a genuinely horrifying drinking culture, and what do you get? A dictionary's worth of 'drunkonyms' Name: Drunkonyms. Age: As old ...

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