---
title: awful — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «awful» in the school dictionary: Awful means very bad or unpleasant: awful weather, an awful smell. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# awful

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Awful, you, awful lot, weather, we, medicine · **What happens:** mean, feel, be, stay, taste, think · **To what, where:** large amount, cold, pencil, way, awful news · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«awful» in the school dictionary: its 4 meanings for a pupil and its 8 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: [awful in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/awful.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Awful means very bad or unpleasant: awful weather, an awful smell.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:m1:1
# text = Awful means very bad or unpleasant: awful weather, an awful smell.
1	Awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	unpleasant	unpleasant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Awful |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | 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 -->
If you feel awful, you feel ill or very unhappy or guilty.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:m2:1
# text = If you feel awful, you feel ill or very unhappy or guilty.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	feel	feel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	feel	feel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	unhappy	unhappy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	guilty	guilty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you |  |  |  |  | awful *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **feel** | present | you |  |  |  |  | ill *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: informal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«An awful lot» means a very large amount.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:m3:1
# text = «An awful lot» means a very large amount.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	very	very	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	amount	amount	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | a awful lot | a large amount |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent amount=Topic |

## Meaning 4 {#m4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In old writing, awful meant «full of awe», very impressive and frightening.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:m4:1
# text = In old writing, awful meant «full of awe», very impressive and frightening.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	nsubj	_	_
6	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	ccomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	awe	awe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	very	very	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	impressive	impressive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	parataxis	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	frightening	frightening	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | awful |  |  |  |  | in old writing | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot in writing=Attribute |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The weather was awful, so we stayed inside.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x1:1
# text = The weather was awful, so we stayed inside.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	stayed	stay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	inside	inside	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the weather |  |  |  |  | awful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stay** | past | we |  |  |  |  | inside *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
This medicine tastes awful.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x2:1
# text = This medicine tastes awful.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tastes	taste	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **taste** | present | this medicine |  |  |  |  | awful *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I feel awful — I think I have a cold.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x3:1
# text = I feel awful — I think I have a cold.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	feel	feel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | present | I |  |  |  |  | awful *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | present | I | a cold |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cold=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I felt awful about breaking her pencil.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x4:1
# text = I felt awful about breaking her pencil.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	breaking	break	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	pencil	pencil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | past | I |  |  |  |  | awful *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **break** | gerund | I *not said here* | her pencil |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer pencil=Patient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There is an awful lot of homework this week.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x5:1
# text = There is an awful lot of homework this week.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | a awful lot of homework |  |  | there | week |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What an awful smell!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x6:1
# text = What an awful smell!
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The traffic was awful on the way to school.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x7:1
# text = The traffic was awful on the way to school.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	traffic	traffic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the traffic |  |  | the way to school |  | awful *property* | tree rules |

## Example 8 {#x8}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That's awful news; I'm sorry.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:awful:x8:1
# text = That's awful news; I'm sorry.
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	awful	awful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	sorry	sorry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | That | awful news |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | I |  |  |  |  | sorry *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 -->

<!-- pn -->
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