Symbols of Easter

01Spring has begun in the northern half of the earth.

02For Christians, a major springtime holiday is Easter.

03This year, Easter falls on March 31st.

04In this week's Everyday Grammar, we learn how to talk about holidays and the foods, objects, and activities connected to them.

05On Easter Sunday, families with children follow the tradition of coloring eggs and hiding them for an egg hunt.

06Some of the eggs are just one color, but others are painted in great detail.

07The Easter eggs symbolize new life and rebirth.

08There is a mythical animal we talk about at Easter, the Easter bunny.

09Bunnies, or rabbits, stand for fertility in some cultures.

10That is because rabbits reproduce easily and often.

11In the days and weeks before Easter, toy bunnies are found in stores.

12So are plastic eggs that parents fill with candies to give their children on Easter morning.

13The American president even hosts an Easter egg roll at the White House on the Monday after Easter.

14The child who rolls their egg the farthest distance without breaking it is the winner.

15Lamb is often served at Easter meals.

16For Christians, lamb represents Jesus Christ, who Christians call the Lamb of God.

17Another food that is common at Easter is ham.

18Pigs symbolized good luck in Europe in the time before Christianity.

19You might have noticed three ways we have talked about the connections people make between the foods and symbols of Easter.

20They involve two transitive verbs and a phrasal verb.

21First, we used symbolize, which means to be a representation or expression of something.

22We said that eggs symbolize new life.

23Next is stands for, a phrasal verb.

24We said that bunnies stand for fertility.

25In this case, stands for also means to be a representation of something.

26Finally, we used represents to explain the importance and meaning of lamb.

27Let's look a bit more at how to use these words.

28Symbolize is the verb form of the noun symbol.

29A symbol is an object, action, or event that expresses a quality or idea.

30Let's compare the verb and noun form.

31We will start with an example using symbolize.

32The sentence has this structure.

33Noun phrase plus symbolize plus noun.

34Now, let's look at how to use symbol.

35The sentence has this structure.

36Noun phrase plus be plus a symbol of plus noun.

37Please note that even though our two example sentences have different structures, the meaning is the same.

38Of course, you can create much more complex sentences and examples when using symbolize or symbol.

39But for this lesson, we will keep things simple.

40Now, let's take a closer look at stand for.

41This phrasal verb has a few different meanings.

42But in our description of Easter, we used stand for in the same way we use symbolize.

43That is right.

44It means to be a representation or symbol of something.

45Here is another example.

46The color yellow often stands for happiness and joy.

47Finally, we have represent.

48This verb has many meanings.

49In this lesson, represent means to serve as a symbol or sign of something.

50Let's look at this word in another example sentence.

51Wedding rings represent a married couple's love.

52Today, we have learned three verbs you can use to describe holiday celebrations.

53Symbolize, stand for, and represent.

54Let's quickly compare our three verbs.

55All of them are transitive verbs, meaning they take a direct object.

56And they can all be used in a simple structure.

57Noun or noun phrase, plus verb, or a phrasal verb, plus noun or noun phrase.

58For example, Red symbolizes love.

59Red stands for love.

60Red represents love.

61Try to use all three verbs to tell us about a holiday that you celebrate.

62What do the foods or activities of the day symbolize, stand for, or represent?

63You can email us at learningenglish at voanews.com.

64And that's Everyday Grammar.

65I'm Jill Robbins.