---
title: beholden — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «beholden» in the school dictionary: To be beholden to someone is to feel you owe them thanks because they helped you. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# beholden

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** you, they, kind old woman, I · **What happens:** beholden, be, owe, help, thank, not forget · **To what, where:** them, thanks, you, I, poor boy · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be beholden to someone is to feel you owe them thanks because they helped you.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:beholden:m1:1
# text = To be beholden to someone is to feel you owe them thanks because they helped you.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	beholden	beholden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	obl	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	feel	feel	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	owe	owe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	thanks	thanks	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
13	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl	_	_
16	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beholden** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | to someone | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | feel *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **owe** | present | you | them *= they* |  |  |  | thanks *obl* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 4 | **help** | past | they | thanks *not said here* | you |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
I am beholden to you for my life.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:beholden:x1:1
# text = I am beholden to you for my life.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	beholden	beholden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beholden** | present · passive |  | I | you |  |  | for my life | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The poor boy was beholden to the kind old woman.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:beholden:x2:1
# text = The poor boy was beholden to the kind old woman.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	beholden	beholden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beholden** | past · passive | the kind old woman | the poor boy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thank you; I shall never forget that I am beholden to you.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:beholden:x3:1
# text = Thank you; I shall never forget that I am beholden to you.
1	Thank	thank	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
5	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	forget	forget	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	beholden	beholden	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thank** *speech: thank* | present |  |  | you |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **forget** | shall | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **beholden** | present · passive |  | I | you |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [behold](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/behold/)
- next →: [beholder](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/beholder/)
- ↑ back to [B in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/)