---
title: confront — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «confront» in the school dictionary: To confront someone is to face them, often to argue or talk about a problem. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# confront

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** problem, you, She, knight, your, teacher · **What happens:** confront, be, argue, talk, avoid, have · **To what, where:** someone, problem, danger, you, brother, dragon · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«confront» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 6 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: [confront in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/confront.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To confront someone is to face them, often to argue or talk about a problem.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:m1:1
# text = To confront someone is to face them, often to argue or talk about a problem.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	confront	confront	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	face	face	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	often	often	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	argue	argue	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	talk	talk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
14	about	about	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent someone=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | face *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | often *property* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **talk** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | about a problem | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about problem=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
To confront a problem or danger is to deal with it instead of avoiding it.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:m2:1
# text = To confront a problem or danger is to deal with it instead of avoiding it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	confront	confront	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	deal	deal	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	_
12	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	14	mark	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	fixed	_	_
14	avoiding	avoid	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | to-infinitive |  | a problem or danger |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent problem=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with danger; deal *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **avoid** | gerund |  | danger |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent it=Location |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If a problem confronts you, you have to face it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:m3:1
# text = If a problem confronts you, you have to face it.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	confronts	confront	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	face	face	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | a problem | you |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **face** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | problem |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Destination |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She confronted her brother about the missing chocolate.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x1:1
# text = She confronted her brother about the missing chocolate.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	confronted	confront	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	missing	missing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	chocolate	chocolate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | past | She | her brother |  |  |  | about the missing chocolate | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brother=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The knight confronted the dragon.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x2:1
# text = The knight confronted the dragon.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	confronted	confront	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dragon	dragon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | past | the knight | the dragon |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dragon=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You have to confront your fears to beat them.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x3:1
# text = You have to confront your fears to beat them.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	confront	confront	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	fears	fear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	beat	beat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | You |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **confront** | to-infinitive | You *not said here* | your fears |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fear=Theme |
| 3 | **beat** | to-infinitive | You *not said here* | fears *= fear* |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=Theme |
| 4 | **fear** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We were confronted with a huge pile of homework.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x4:1
# text = We were confronted with a huge pile of homework.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	confronted	confront	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	pile	pile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | past · passive |  | We |  |  |  | with a huge pile of homework | vn confront-98 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: subject=Theme with pile=Instrument |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher confronted the problem of bullying.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x5:1
# text = The teacher confronted the problem of bullying.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	confronted	confront	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	bullying	bullying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confront** | past | the teacher | the problem of bullying |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent problem=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't confront a burglar — call the police.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:confront:x6:1
# text = Don't confront a burglar — call the police.
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	confront	confront	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	burglar	burglar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	—	-	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	call	call	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **confront** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* | a burglar |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent burglar=Theme |
| 2 | **call** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the police |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent police=Recipient |

<!-- 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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