---
title: birdwatch — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «birdwatch» in the school dictionary: To birdwatch is to watch wild birds in their natural surroundings as a hobby, often with binoculars and a bird book. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# birdwatch

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** birdwatch, people, We, Grandad, you, Birdwatchers · **What happens:** be, watch, count, birdwatch, take, bring · **To what, where:** wild birds, natural surroundings, organised event, birds, kitchen window, me

<!-- .vabout -->
«birdwatch» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 7 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: [birdwatch in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/birdwatch.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To birdwatch is to watch wild birds in their natural surroundings as a hobby, often with binoculars and a bird book.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:m1:1
# text = To birdwatch is to watch wild birds in their natural surroundings as a hobby, often with binoculars and a bird book.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	birdwatch	birdwatch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
6	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	surroundings	surroundings	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	5	obl	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	hobby	hobby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	often	often	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
17	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	compound	_	_
22	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with binoculars and a bird book; birdwatch *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **watch** | to-infinitive |  | wild birds |  | birds's natural surroundings |  | as a hobby | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent bird=Theme as hobby=Value |

<!-- .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 -->
A birdwatch is an organised event where people watch and count birds.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:m2:1
# text = A birdwatch is an organised event where people watch and count birds.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	birdwatch	birdwatch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	organised	organised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	9	advmod	_	_
8	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	watch	watch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	count	count	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
12	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a birdwatch | a organised event |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **watch** | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **count** | present | people *not said here* | birds |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We birdwatch from the kitchen window every Saturday.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x1:1
# text = We birdwatch from the kitchen window every Saturday.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	birdwatch	birdwatch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	Saturday	Saturday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **birdwatch** | present | We |  |  | the kitchen window | saturday |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandad took me birdwatching at the lake.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x2:1
# text = Grandad took me birdwatching at the lake.
1	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	iobj	_	_
4	birdwatching	birdwatch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | Grandad |  | me |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument i=Destination |
| 2 | **birdwatch** | gerund | Grandad *not said here* |  |  | the lake |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the Big Garden Birdwatch we counted seven robins.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x3:1
# text = In the Big Garden Birdwatch we counted seven robins.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	Big	Big	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	flat	_	_
4	Garden	Garden	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
5	Birdwatch	birdwatch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	counted	count	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	robins	robin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **birdwatch** | present |  |  |  | the Big Garden |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **count** | past | we | seven robins |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent robin=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bring binoculars when you go birdwatching.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x4:1
# text = Bring binoculars when you go birdwatching.
1	Bring	bring	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	binoculars	binocular	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
6	birdwatching	birdwatch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bring** | imperative | you *not said here* | binoculars |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent binocular=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **birdwatch** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Birdwatchers sit very quietly so they don't scare the birds.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x5:1
# text = Birdwatchers sit very quietly so they don't scare the birds.
1	Birdwatchers	birdwatcher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sit	sit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	scare	scare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | present | Birdwatchers |  |  |  |  | quietly *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **scare** | present · do-support | Birdwatchers *= birdwatcher* | the birds |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus bird=Experiencer |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The school held a birdwatch in the playground.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x6:1
# text = The school held a birdwatch in the playground.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	birdwatch	birdwatch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	playground	playground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | past | the school | a birdwatch |  | the playground |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent birdwatch=Theme in playground=Location |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She birdwatched for hours and saw a kingfisher.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:birdwatch:x7:1
# text = She birdwatched for hours and saw a kingfisher.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	birdwatched	birdwatch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	kingfisher	kingfisher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **birdwatch** | past | She |  |  |  | hour |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | past | She *not said here* | a kingfisher |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer kingfisher=Stimulus |

<!-- 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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