context
context — noun
1. the conditions and events that surround something and give you a clearer underst
the conditions and events that surround something and give you a clearer understanding of why it exists or happens
To understand why the factory closed, know the economic context of the region.
in the context of [place] — prepositional phrase showing scope
The novel helps readers understand the social context of rural Japan in the 1930s.
Lauren's angry email only made sense once her colleagues learned the full context.
Without the broader context, a single statistic about crime rates can be misleading.
The documentary places the artist's work within the political context of the civil rights movement.
- background
focuses on earlier events rather than immediate surroundings; 'background' is broader in time, 'context' is broader in scope
- circumstances
refers to specific conditions rather than the overall setting; more concrete but narrower
- setting
more concrete and often physical; 'setting' is where something happens, 'context' is why it happens
- framework
more formal and structural; suggests an organized system of ideas rather than a messy real-world situation
文法句型
context + of + noun phrase
in the context of + noun phrase
用法筆記
Often appears in the phrase 'in the context of', followed by a noun phrase that names the surrounding situation.
2. the words and sentences that appear near a word or passage and offer hints about
the words and sentences that appear near a word or passage and offer hints about its meaning
Students can guess an unfamiliar word's meaning from the surrounding context.
surrounding context — common phrase for nearby text
Teachers encourage students to use context clues when they meet an unfamiliar word.
context clue — common fixed phrase in language learning
Context helped the translator see whether the French word meant a river or a bank.
Jisoo guessed the word 'pestle' meant a grinding tool from the context of the recipe.
Karim knew the character's name meant 'warrior' because the passage context made it clear.
- surrounding text
more literal and concrete; used when referring to visible written words on a page
- co-text
technical term in linguistics; rarely used by general learners
文法句型
context + for + noun phrase
context clues
用法筆記
Commonly appears in language-learning materials as 'context clue' — a nearby word or phrase that helps a reader infer the meaning of an unknown word.
常見錯誤
3. when a remark or piece of writing is quoted as a separate fragment without the s
when a remark or piece of writing is quoted as a separate fragment without the surrounding explanation, so that the original meaning is changed or lost
The newspaper took the mayor's words out of context to make her sound dishonest.
took [someone's] words out of context — core verb + noun + preposition phrase
Daichi said the review quoted his novel out of context and ignored the happy ending.
A single angry sentence pulled out of context can ruin a friendly conversation.
Justin felt his interview answers had been presented out of context in the online article.
The professor warned students not to take historical quotes out of context in their essays.
文法句型
take + noun phrase + out of context
quote + noun phrase + out of context
用法筆記
Almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'out of context', typically with verbs such as 'take', 'quote', 'pull', or 'present'. The opposite form 'in context' is also common ('The quote must be seen in context').