---
title: bungling — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «bungling» in the school dictionary: To bungle is to do a job badly, through clumsiness or lack of skill. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# bungling

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Bungling, bungling baker, I, bungling helper · **What happens:** be, lack, mean, make, mess, burn · **To what, where:** skill, mess, things, bread, sum, whole game

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To bungle is to do a job badly, through clumsiness or lack of skill.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:bungling:m1:1
# text = To bungle is to do a job badly, through clumsiness or lack of skill.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	bungle	bungle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	advcl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	through	through	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	clumsiness	clumsiness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	lack	lack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	skill	skill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | badly, do *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lack** |  |  | skill |  |  |  |  | nom lack «state transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Bungling means clumsy and unskilled, making a mess of things.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:bungling:m2:1
# text = Bungling means clumsy and unskilled, making a mess of things.
1	Bungling	bungling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	clumsy	clumsy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	unskilled	unskilled	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Bungling |  |  |  |  | clumsy *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **make** | gerund | Bungling *not said here* | a mess of things |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset mess=Product |
| 3 | **mess** |  |  | things |  |  |  |  | nom mess «state transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bungling baker burned the bread.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:bungling:x1:1
# text = The bungling baker burned the bread.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	bungling	bungling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	baker	baker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	burned	burn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burn** | past | the bungling baker | the bread |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent bread=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I bungled the sum and had to start again.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:bungling:x2:1
# text = I bungled the sum and had to start again.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	bungled	bungle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	again	again	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bungle** | past | I | the sum |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent sum=Patient |
| 2 | **have** | past | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **start** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  | again |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A bungling helper can spoil the whole game.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:bungling:x3:1
# text = A bungling helper can spoil the whole game.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	bungling	bungling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	helper	helper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	spoil	spoil	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spoil** | can | a bungling helper | the whole game |  |  |  |  | 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.

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