---
title: prevent — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «prevent» in the Early Modern English dictionary: To come before or get ahead of something; to anticipate it. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# prevent

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Four boys, work, we, they · **What happens:** come, get, anticipate, catch, prevent, be · **To what, where:** it, him, thud, resource, steps, abuse

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To come before or get ahead of something; to anticipate it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:prevent:m1:1
# text = To come before or get ahead of something; to anticipate it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	come	come	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	before	before	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	get	get	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	ahead	ahead	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	anticipate	anticipate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | before *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **get** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of something; ahead *property* | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme of something=Destination |
| 3 | **anticipate** | to-infinitive |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
Four boys caught him to prevent the thud.

<!-- .note -->
From Peter Pan.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:prevent:x1:1
# text = Four boys caught him to prevent the thud.
1	Four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	thud	thud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | Four boys | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 2 | **prevent** | to-infinitive | Four boys *not said here* | the thud |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer thud=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.

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

<!-- fold The tree, 30 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:prevent:x2:1
# text = Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
1	Nevertheless	nevertheless	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
4	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	expensive	expensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	12	mark	_	_
10	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	fixed	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
13	providing	provide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	xcomp	_	_
14	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	15	det	_	_
15	resource	resource	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	conj	_	_
20	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	advcl	_	_
23	abuse	abuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
24	by	by	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	commercial	commercial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	parties	party	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
28	including	including	ADP	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
29	placing	place	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
30	technical	technical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	restrictions	restriction	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obj	_	_
32	on	on	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	automated	automated	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	querying	querying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | this work |  |  |  |  | expensive, nevertheless *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **provide** | gerund |  | this resource |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition resource=Theme |
| 4 | **take** | present · perfect | we | steps |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent step=Theme |
| 5 | **prevent** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | abuse |  |  |  | by commercial parties | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer abuse=Theme |
| 6 | **place** | gerund | we *not said here* | technical restrictions |  | automated querying |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent restriction=Theme on querying=Destination |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
This time they could not prevent him overhearing.

<!-- .note -->
From Irish Fairy Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:prevent:x3:1
# text = This time they could not prevent him overhearing.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	overhearing	overhear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **prevent** | could | they | him *= he* |  |  | time |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **overhear** | gerund | they *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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