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# van

noun (van, vans)

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

## Everyday

1. A van is a vehicle bigger than a car and smaller than a truck, used for carrying people or goods. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#m1)
2. A van with seats can carry a group, like a school team; a van with no back seats carries boxes, tools or furniture. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#m2)
3. «In the van» or «in the vanguard» can also mean at the front of a march or a change (rare). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#m3)

### In the lessons

In school maths: a carrier with seats or a load; seats per van is a rate and the question asks how many vans are needed for a group. In everyday life: delivery vans bring parcels, an ice-cream van plays music in the street, a camper van is for holidays, a moving van carries furniture to a new home. Phrases: «a delivery van», «a camper van», «a moving van», «by van».

### Examples

- Each van holds 8 people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x1)
- 3 vans carry 45 boxes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x2)
- How many vans are needed for 30 children? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x3)
- The van drove 60 miles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x4)
- The delivery van brought our new fridge. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x5)
- We heard the ice-cream van playing its tune. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x6)
- Dad hired a moving van to take our beds to the new house. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x7)
- The football team travelled to the match in two vans. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x8)
- They placed straw round the coffin, and the van drove away. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/van/#x9)

### Note

Plural «vans». Countable: «a van». A van is not a car and not a truck — in between. Maths: seats per van is a rate; vans needed = people ÷ seats, rounded up, because a few leftover children still need one more van. Safety: never get into a stranger's van.

## On Mova

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