The Grammar of 'Share:' Social, Economic Uses
2024-01-12
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1Consider a time when you heard or read news about business, investments, or politics.
2Now consider a happy time when you gathered with friends or family.
3You ate food, had something to drink, and perhaps smiled and laughed.
4What word might appear often in discussions about our two situations - the news and the family meal?
5The answer is one word that comes in a verb or noun form: share.
6Share will be the subject of today's Everyday Grammar.
7You will learn about the word's meanings as well as commonly used structures in everyday situations.
8Let's start with some definitions.
9As we said before, the word "share" has both a noun and verb form.
10We can compare it to a superhero.
11Consider Peter Parker.
12He is a normal young man.
13But sometimes he becomes Spiderman - and Spiderman is all about action!
14Just as Peter Parker has a normal side and an active side, the word "share" has a noun form and an active verb form.
15Let's start with the noun form.
16When you read business or even political news, you are highly likely to see the noun form.
17Share suggests the idea of division or splitting something.
18So, a share can involve value, interest or ownership that has been divided into parts.
19For example, a person might buy stock shares in a company.
20This means that a person is buying partial ownership of a business.
21Any time you read news about the stock market, for example, the value of the shares of businesses is a central point of interest.
22Now consider a story about a political dispute.
23A scandal might happen, and one politician might be forced to accept his or her share of the blame for something that went wrong.
24In this usage, the politician is getting an amount of something - blame - that he or she deserves or is responsible for.
25You might use the noun form of "share" when you talk about gatherings with family and friends.
26For example, friends might get together and decide to pay their share of the bill for a meal at a restaurant.
27In this case, the friends might divide the bill and pay what they owe individually.
28What about the verb form of share, you might ask?
29We often use it to talk about politics.
30Political parties might share power in a country, for example.
31We also might use the verb "share" to describe social gatherings.
32Family or friends might share food.
33In this case, the family or friends are coming together and dividing or splitting food among themselves.
34Everyone gets to eat and drink.
35Now we can ask the question: What are the most commonly used structures with both the noun and verb forms of share?
36The most common words that come before "share" are "to" and "a."
37That is what Google's Ngram Viewer tells us. It is a database that contains information from thousands of books.
38But Ngram Viewer also gives us an important finding: "to share" is far more common than "a share."
39So, we are very likely to read a sentence like this:
40The two sides agreed to share power.
41Or
42The children decided to share the toys.
43We are somewhat less likely to read a sentence like this:
44He bought a share of Microsoft stock.
45What words are likely to come after "share?"
46The two most common structures, Google's Ngram Viewer tells us, are "share of" and "share the."
47So, think back to our earlier examples:
48He bought a share of Microsoft stock.
49The children decided to share the toys.
50Let's end this lesson with a quiz. Fill in the blank with the correct word or words.
51The countries agreed ___________ the profits made from the shipping canal.
52Here is one possible answer:
53The countries agreed to share the profits made from the shipping canal.
54I'm John Russell.
1Consider a time when you heard or read news about business, investments, or politics. 2Now consider a happy time when you gathered with friends or family. You ate food, had something to drink, and perhaps smiled and laughed. 3What word might appear often in discussions about our two situations - the news and the family meal? 4The answer is one word that comes in a verb or noun form: share. 5Share will be the subject of today's Everyday Grammar. You will learn about the word's meanings as well as commonly used structures in everyday situations. 6Let's start with some definitions. 7Definitions 8As we said before, the word "share" has both a noun and verb form. 9We can compare it to a superhero. Consider Peter Parker. He is a normal young man. But sometimes he becomes Spiderman - and Spiderman is all about action! 10Just as Peter Parker has a normal side and an active side, the word "share" has a noun form and an active verb form. 11Noun form 12Let's start with the noun form. 13When you read business or even political news, you are highly likely to see the noun form. 14Share suggests the idea of division or splitting something. 15So, a share can involve value, interest or ownership that has been divided into parts. 16For example, a person might buy stock shares in a company. This means that a person is buying partial ownership of a business. 17Any time you read news about the stock market, for example, the value of the shares of businesses is a central point of interest. 18Now consider a story about a political dispute. A scandal might happen, and one politician might be forced to accept his or her share of the blame for something that went wrong. In this usage, the politician is getting an amount of something - blame - that he or she deserves or is responsible for. 19You might use the noun form of "share" when you talk about gatherings with family and friends. For example, friends might get together and decide to pay their share of the bill for a meal at a restaurant. 20In this case, the friends might divide the bill and pay what they owe individually. 21Verb form 22What about the verb form of share, you might ask? 23We often use it to talk about politics. 24Political parties might share power in a country, for example. 25We also might use the verb "share" to describe social gatherings. 26Family or friends might share food. In this case, the family or friends are coming together and dividing or splitting food among themselves. Everyone gets to eat and drink. 27Common structures 28Now we can ask the question: What are the most commonly used structures with both the noun and verb forms of share? 29The most common words that come before "share" are "to" and "a." That is what Google's Ngram Viewer tells us. It is a database that contains information from thousands of books. 30But Ngram Viewer also gives us an important finding: "to share" is far more common than "a share." 31So, we are very likely to read a sentence like this: 32The two sides agreed to share power. 33Or 34The children decided to share the toys. 35We are somewhat less likely to read a sentence like this: 36He bought a share of Microsoft stock. 37What words are likely to come after "share?" 38The two most common structures, Google's Ngram Viewer tells us, are "share of" and "share the." 39So, think back to our earlier examples: 40He bought a share of Microsoft stock. 41The children decided to share the toys. 42Quiz: 43Let's end this lesson with a quiz. Fill in the blank with the correct word or words. 44The countries agreed ___________ the profits made from the shipping canal. 45Here is one possible answer: 46The countries agreed to share the profits made from the shipping canal. 47I'm John Russell. 48John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 49_______________________________________________ 50Words in This Story 51stock - n. a share of the value of a company which can be bought, sold, or traded as an investment 52scandal - n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong