---
title: an — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «an» in the Early Modern English dictionary: Used before a word that starts with a vowel sound, to mean one. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# an

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**Who acts:** word, he · **What happens:** use, start, mean, erect, call, think · **To what, where:** one, altar, me · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«an» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [an in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/an.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Used before a word that starts with a vowel sound, to mean one.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:an:m1:1
# text = Used before a word that starts with a vowel sound, to mean one.
1	Used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	before	before	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	starts	start	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	vowel	vowel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | participle |  |  |  |  | before a word |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **start** | present | a word |  |  |  |  | with a vowel sound | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with sound=Subeventuality |
| 3 | **mean** | to-infinitive | a word *not said here* | one |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah GEN.33.20, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:an:x1:1
# text = And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	erected	erect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	altar	altar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	El	El	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	elohe	elohe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	Israel	Israel	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **erect** | past | he | a altar |  | there |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent altar=Product |
| 2 | **call** | past | he *not said here* | altar |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would think me an adventurer."

<!-- .note -->
From The Arabian Nights Entertainments.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:an:x2:1
# text = He would think me an adventurer."
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	adventurer	adventurer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | would | He | me |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent i=Theme adventurer=Attribute |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Misery, or an evil end, or simply evil, ROH.

<!-- .note -->
From Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:an:x3:1
# text = Misery, or an evil end, or simply evil, ROH.
1	Misery	misery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	ROH	ROH	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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