---
title: ambitious — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ambitious» in the school dictionary: Ambitious means wanting very much to succeed, to be great, or to gain power. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# ambitious

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Ambitious, ambitious plan, ambitious tailor, Eteocles, ambitious prince, We · **What happens:** mean, want, succeed, be, gain, carry out · **To what, where:** power, one, prince, ambitious prince, throne, ambitious plan · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«ambitious» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings 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: [ambitious in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ambitious.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ambitious means wanting very much to succeed, to be great, or to gain power.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ambitious:m1:1
# text = Ambitious means wanting very much to succeed, to be great, or to gain power.
1	Ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	wanting	want	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	ccomp	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	much	much	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	succeed	succeed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	cop	_	_
11	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	gain	gain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	11	parataxis	_	_
16	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Ambitious |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **succeed** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | great *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **gain** | to-infinitive |  | power |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent power=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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An ambitious plan is one that is big and hard to carry out.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ambitious:m2:1
# text = An ambitious plan is one that is big and hard to carry out.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	out	out	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	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 ambitious plan | one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | big *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **carry out** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ambitious tailor wanted to be a prince.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ambitious:x1:1
# text = The ambitious tailor wanted to be a prince.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	tailor	tailor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | the ambitious tailor |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is a** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the ambitious tailor *not said here* | a prince |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Eteocles was an ambitious prince who seized the throne.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ambitious:x2:1
# text = Eteocles was an ambitious prince who seized the throne.
1	Eteocles	Eteocles	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	seized	seize	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	throne	throne	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Eteocles | a ambitious prince |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **seize** | past | a ambitious prince | the throne |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent throne=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We have an ambitious plan to build a model town.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ambitious:x3:1
# text = We have an ambitious plan to build a model town.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	build	build	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	model	model	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | We | a ambitious plan |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plan=Patient |
| 2 | **build** | to-infinitive | We *not said here* | a model town |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset town=Product |

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**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.

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