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# motivation

noun (motivation — uncountable; a motivation, motivations)

«motivation» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. The wish or energy to do something and keep trying. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#m1)
2. A reason for doing something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#m2)
3. (formal) Something that gives a reason or encourages action. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#m3)

### In the lessons

Used at school ("Where's your motivation today?"), in sport, in science about why animals behave as they do, and in stories about a character's reasons for acting. Phrases: "lack of motivation", "lose motivation", "a strong motivation", "the motivation behind".

### Examples

- I lost my motivation to practise piano after the holidays. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x1)
- Winning the cup was a big motivation for the team. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x2)
- What was the villain's motivation for stealing the jewel? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x3)
- Our teacher gives us stickers for motivation. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x4)
- Hunger is a strong motivation for animals to hunt. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x5)
- She has lots of motivation; she practises every day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x6)
- The motivation behind the new rule was to keep everyone safe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/#x7)

### Note

Usually uncountable ("lots of motivation", not "lots of motivations") when it means the wish to do something; countable when it means a particular reason. Verb: "motivate"; adjective: "motivated". In police stories, "motive" is the usual word for the reason for a crime.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «motivation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/motivation/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«motivation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/motivation.html) on Mova free.