[ti:Appeal]
[al:Ask a Teacher]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-03-01]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer the following question from a listener.
[00:08.07]Dear teacher,
[00:09.85]Could you please say more about the meaning of "appeal?"
[00:15.07]Thank you.
[00:16.74]Like many words in English, "appeal" has more than one meaning. 
[00:23.98]It can also be more than one part of speech.
[00:28.77]A part of speech means the grammatical function a word has, such as a noun, verb, adverb or adjective.
[00:41.02]Let's look at the many ways we can use the word "appeal."
[00:48.01]As a verb, "appeal" means to make a request, often in official situations or involving important things. 
[00:59.11]Generally, we do not use "appeal" for normal, everyday requests.
[01:06.83]For example, we would not say:
[01:11.20]I appeal for you to get some milk at the store.
[01:15.46]But we would say something like:
[01:19.12]The earthquake victims appealed to the government for more aid.
[01:25.95]Appealing
[01:27.49]We can change the meaning of "appeal" by making it an adjective. 
[01:34.59]One way to do this is to use the -ing ending. 
[01:40.29]This forms the word "appealing," which describes something that has a pleasing quality.
[01:49.75]Consider the following examples:
[01:53.88]That job is really appealing to me.
[01:57.37]Her dress looks really appealing.
[02:00.87]The nice weather makes that city so appealing.
[02:05.19]That argument is appealing to many voters.
[02:08.71]As shown in these examples, we can use the adjective "appealing" to describe many different things.
[02:19.52]The word "appeal" can also be used as a noun. 
[02:24.81]One meaning as a noun describes a formal or urgent request, as shown in the following examples:
[02:35.16]Their appeal for help was not answered.
[02:38.56]The employees made an appeal to reduce the number of hours of work.
[02:44.29]The second example above shows that we often use the verb "make" before the noun "appeal."
[02:54.33]The word "appeal" can also be used as a noun to describe a quality that creates interest, sympathy, or attraction.
[03:07.10]Here are some examples of that usage:
[03:11.14]The museum's design has a lot of appeal.
[03:15.14]The appeal of that music is its simplicity.
[03:19.28]Using "appeal" in the law
[03:23.29]"Appeal" is also often used in legal matters - both as a noun or a verb. 
[03:31.82]As a noun, it means a formal request to a court to review a decision by another court. 
[03:40.74]If one court accepts the other's request, we can say the court "granted" the appeal.
[03:49.78]If the court rejects the appeal, we can say the court "denied" it.
[03:57.45]The following example shows "appeal" being used as a verb in legal English:
[04:04.72]The defense team will likely appeal the decision.
[04:09.80]An adjective form of "appeal" is also used in the legal system. 
[04:16.49]The adjective "appellate" describes a kind of court that deals with cases that have been appealed.
[04:27.11]For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English? 
[04:33.56]Was this lesson appealing to you? We want to hear your thoughts! 
[04:39.91]Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. 
[04:47.20]And please let us know where you are from, too.
[04:52.31]And that's Ask a Teacher.
[04:55.72]I'm Andrew Smith.