Symbols of Easter

Bunnies or rabbits stand for fertility in some cultures.

That is because rabbits reproduce easily and often.

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

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

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

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

Lamb is often served at Easter meals.

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

Another food that is common at Easter is ham.

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

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

They involve two transitive verbs and a phrasal verb.

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

We said that eggs symbolize new life.

Next is stands for a phrasal verb.

We said that bunnies stand for fertility.

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

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

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

Symbolize is the verb form of the noun symbol.

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

Let's compare the verb and noun form.

We will start with an example using symbolize.

The lion symbolizes courage.

The sentence has this structure: noun phrase plus symbolize plus noun.

Now let's look at how to use symbol.

The lion is a symbol of courage.

The sentence has this structure: noun phrase plus be plus a symbol of plus noun.

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

Of course, you can create much more complex sentences and examples when using symbolize or symbol, but for this lesson, we will keep things simple.

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

This phrasal verb has a few different meanings, but in our description of Easter, we used stand for in the same way we use symbolize.

That is right.

It means to be a representation or symbol of something.

Here is another example.

The color yellow often stands for happiness and joy.

Finally, we have represent.

This verb has many meanings.

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

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

Wedding rings represent a married couple's love.

Today we have learned three verbs you can use to describe holiday celebrations: symbolize, stand for, and represent.

Let's quickly compare our three verbs.

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

And they can all be used in a simple structure: noun or noun phrase plus verb or a phrasal verb plus noun or noun phrase.

For example: Red symbolizes love.

Red stands for love.

Red represents love.

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

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

You can email us at learningenglish@voanews. com.

And that's Everyday Grammar.

I'm Jill Robbins.