The girl smiled broadly as she opened her birthday presents.

Meaning: This means the girl was very happy when she opened the gifts she received on her birthday.

Choice of Words: Girl is a young female child. Smile means to form a broad, often joyful expression with the mouth turned up at the corners. Broadly means in a wide or extensive manner. Open means to move something so as to make a space or passage. Birthday is the anniversary of the day on which a person was born. Present is a gift.

Alternative Expressions

The girl beamed as she unwrapped her birthday gifts.

Meaning: This sentence describes a girl who is smiling happily as she unwraps her birthday gifts. The word "beamed" is a more descriptive word than "smiled", which suggests that the girl is smiling very broadly.

Choice of Words: The girl: This is the subject of the sentence, the person who is doing the smiling.
Beamed: This is the verb, which describes the action that the subject is doing.
As: This is a conjunction, which connects the two clauses in the sentence.
She: This is a pronoun, which refers back to the subject of the sentence.
Unwrapped: This is the verb, which describes the action that the subject is doing in the second clause.
Her: This is a possessive pronoun, which shows that the gifts belong to the subject.
Birthday: This is a noun, which describes the type of gifts that the subject is unwrapping.
Gifts: This is a noun, which refers to the objects that the subject is unwrapping.

The girl grinned from ear to ear as she received her birthday presents.

Meaning: This sentence describes a girl who is smiling very widely as she receives her birthday presents. The idiom "from ear to ear" suggests that the girl is smiling very broadly.

Choice of Words: The girl: This is the subject of the sentence, the person who is doing the smiling.
Grinned: This is the verb, which describes the action that the subject is doing.
From ear to ear: This is an idiom, which means that the subject is smiling very widely.
As: This is a conjunction, which connects the two clauses in the sentence.
She: This is a pronoun, which refers back to the subject of the sentence.
Received: This is the verb, which describes the action that the subject is doing in the second clause.
Her: This is a possessive pronoun, which shows that the presents belong to the subject.
Birthday: This is a noun, which describes the type of presents that the subject is receiving.
Presents: This is a noun, which refers to the objects that the subject is receiving.

Related Expressions