---
title: behest — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «behest» in the school dictionary: A command or order, often from someone in charge: «at his behest» means as he ordered. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# behest

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**Who acts:** command, he, She, They, you · **What happens:** mean, order, come, build, obey, reward · **To what, where:** behest, tower, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«behest» in the school 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: [behest in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/behest.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A command or order, often from someone in charge: «at his behest» means as he ordered.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:behest:m1:1
# text = A command or order, often from someone in charge: «at his behest» means as he ordered.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	command	command	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	often	often	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	conj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	charge	charge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
12	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	behest	behest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	ordered	order	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | a command or order |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **order** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn order-58.3-1 «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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She came at the king's behest.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:behest:x1:1
# text = She came at the king's behest.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	behest	behest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | She |  |  | the king's behest |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at behest=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They built the tower at his behest.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:behest:x2:1
# text = They built the tower at his behest.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	built	build	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	behest	behest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | past | They | the tower |  | his behest |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset tower=Product |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Obey my behest and you will be rewarded.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:behest:x3:1
# text = Obey my behest and you will be rewarded.
1	Obey	obey	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	behest	behest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	rewarded	reward	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obey** | imperative | you *not said here* | my behest |  |  |  |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent behest=Theme |
| 2 | **reward** | future · passive |  | you |  |  |  |  | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |

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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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