---
title: commandment — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «commandment» in the Early Modern English dictionary: A firm order or law given by God or by a ruler, which people must obey. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# commandment

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ruler, ye, commandment, Caliph, they, their · **What happens:** give, obey, not go up, rebel, command, fall · **To what, where:** law, LORD, first journey · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«commandment» 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: [commandment in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/commandment.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A firm order or law given by God or by a ruler, which people must obey.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:commandment:m1:1
# text = A firm order or law given by God or by a ruler, which people must obey.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	firm	firm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	ruler	ruler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
15	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
16	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  | law *not said here* |  |  |  | by God or a ruler | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **obey** | must | a ruler |  |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God;

<!-- .note -->
From Torah DEU.1.26, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:commandment:x1:1
# text = Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God;
1	Yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	ye	ye	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	rebelled	rebel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	against	against	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	commandment	commandment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **go up** | would | ye |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **rebel** | past | ye *not said here* |  |  |  |  | against the commandment of the LORD | vn rebel-71.2-1 «NP V PP.maleficiary»: agent=Agent against commandment=Maleficiary |
| 3 | **command** |  |  | the LORD |  |  |  |  | nom commandment «communication transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Caliph's commandment fell upon me like a thunderbolt.

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

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:commandment:x2:1
# text = The Caliph's commandment fell upon me like a thunderbolt.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Caliph	Caliph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	commandment	commandment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	thunderbolt	thunderbolt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | past | the Caliph's commandment |  |  |  |  | upon me; like a thunderbolt | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon i=Location |
| 2 | **command** |  | the Caliph |  |  |  |  |  | nom commandment «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And they took their first journey, according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah NUM.10.13, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:commandment:x3:1
# text = And they took their first journey, according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	amod	_	_
6	journey	journey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	case	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	commandment	commandment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	LORD	LORD	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	Moses	Moses	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | they | their first journey |  |  |  | accord the commandment of the LORD; by the hand of Moses | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent journey=Theme |
| 2 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **journey** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom journey «act transitive»: poss=agent |
| 4 | **command** |  |  | the LORD |  |  |  |  | nom commandment «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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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