---
title: african — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «african» in the school dictionary: African means from, of or about Africa, the second-largest continent. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# african

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** African, family, animals, African elephant, school, Nigeria · **What happens:** mean, be, come, use, live, name · **To what, where:** Africa, person, African, names, animals, largest land animal · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«african» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 9 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: [african in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/african.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
African means from, of or about Africa, the second-largest continent.

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:m1:1
# text = African means from, of or about Africa, the second-largest continent.
1	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	14	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	largest	large	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	14	amod	_	_
14	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | African |  |  | Africa and the second largest continent |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: 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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An African is a person from Africa or whose family comes from Africa.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:m2:1
# text = An African is a person from Africa or whose family comes from Africa.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	African	african	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a African | a person |  | Africa |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **come** | present | family |  |  | Africa |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from africa=Initial\_Location |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
African is also used in the names of animals and plants that live in Africa, like the African elephant.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:m3:1
# text = African is also used in the names of animals and plants that live in Africa, like the African elephant.
1	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	also	also	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	names	name	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	like	like	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · passive |  | African |  | the names of animals and plants |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **live** | present | animals and plants |  |  | Africa |  | like the African elephant | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in africa=Location |
| 3 | **name** |  |  | animals and plants |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The African elephant is the largest land animal.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x1:1
# text = The African elephant is the largest land animal.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	largest	large	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the African elephant | the largest land animal |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our school celebrated African music with a drumming workshop.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x2:1
# text = Our school celebrated African music with a drumming workshop.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	celebrated	celebrate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	music	music	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	drumming	drum	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	amod	_	_
9	workshop	workshop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **celebrate** | past | Our school | African music |  |  |  | with a drumming workshop | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent music=Theme |
| 2 | **drum** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nigeria and Kenya are both African countries.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x3:1
# text = Nigeria and Kenya are both African countries.
1	Nigeria	Nigeria	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	Kenya	Kenya	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	both	both	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Nigeria and Kenya | African countries |  |  |  | both *property* | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her grandparents are African, from Ghana.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x4:1
# text = Her grandparents are African, from Ghana.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	grandparents	grandparent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Ghana	Ghana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Her grandparents |  |  |  |  | Ghana *vocative*; african *property* | tree rules |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The African savanna has lions, zebras and giraffes.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x5:1
# text = The African savanna has lions, zebras and giraffes.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	savanna	savanna	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	zebras	zebra	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	giraffes	giraffe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the African savanna | lions and zebras and giraffes |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lion=Patient |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We read a traditional African folk tale about Anansi the spider.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x6:1
# text = We read a traditional African folk tale about Anansi the spider.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	read	read	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	traditional	traditional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
5	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	folk	folk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Anansi	Anansi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | past | We | a traditional African folk tale |  |  |  | about Anansi; the spider *obl:unmarked* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tale=Topic |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many African languages are spoken across the continent.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x7:1
# text = Many African languages are spoken across the continent.
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	across	across	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present · passive |  | Many African languages |  | the continent |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 8 {#x8}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The African grey parrot is very good at copying words.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x8:1
# text = The African grey parrot is very good at copying words.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	very	very	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	copying	copy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
10	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the African grey parrot |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **copy** | gerund | the African grey parrot *not said here* | words |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |

## Example 9 {#x9}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The African magician had a younger brother, who was, if possible, more wicked and more cunning than himself.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:african:x9:1
# text = The African magician had a younger brother, who was, if possible, more wicked and more cunning than himself.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	magician	magician	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	16	advmod	_	_
16	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	19	advmod	_	_
19	cunning	cunning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	_
20	than	than	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the African magician | a younger brother |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brother=Patient |
| 2 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a younger brother |  |  |  |  | possible *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **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.

<!-- /div -->

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