---
title: conker — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «conker» in the school dictionary: A conker is the shiny brown seed of a horse chestnut tree, found inside a spiky green case. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# conker

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** conker, Conkers, you, We, Grandpa, I · **What happens:** be, find, put, try, break, collect · **To what, where:** shiny brown seed, spiky green case, game, UK, conker, string

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A conker is the shiny brown seed of a horse chestnut tree, found inside a spiky green case.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:m1:1
# text = A conker is the shiny brown seed of a horse chestnut tree, found inside a spiky green case.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	shiny	shiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	brown	brown	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	seed	seed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	chestnut	chestnut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
15	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	spiky	spiky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	green	green	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a conker | the shiny brown seed |  |  |  | of a chestnut tree | tree rules |
| 2 | **find** | participle |  | the shiny brown seed *not said here* |  | a spiky green case |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: 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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Conkers is a children's game, mainly in the UK and Ireland, where you put a conker on a string and try to break the other player's conker.

<!-- fold The tree, 29 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:m2:1
# text = Conkers is a children's game, mainly in the UK and Ireland, where you put a conker on a string and try to break the other player's conker.
1	Conkers	conker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	mainly	mainly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	UK	UK	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Ireland	Ireland	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	17	advmod	_	_
16	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	put	put	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	on	on	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
24	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	conj	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	xcomp	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	player	player	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	's	's	PART	POS	_	29	case	_	_
31	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Conkers | a children's game |  | the UK and Ireland |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **put** | past | you | a conker |  | a string |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent conker=Theme on string=Destination |
| 3 | **try** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **break** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the other player's conker |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer conker=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We collected conkers in the park in autumn.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x1:1
# text = We collected conkers in the park in autumn.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	collected	collect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	conkers	conker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	park	park	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	autumn	autumn	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 | **collect** | past | We | conkers |  | the park | autumn |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conker=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The conker was shiny and brown.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x2:1
# text = The conker was shiny and brown.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	shiny	shiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	brown	brown	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the conker |  |  |  |  | shiny *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the conker *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandpa showed me how to play conkers.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x3:1
# text = Grandpa showed me how to play conkers.
1	Grandpa	Grandpa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	showed	show	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	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
7	conkers	conker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | past | Grandpa |  | me |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **play** | to-infinitive | Grandpa *not said here* | conkers |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conker=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My conker broke on the first hit.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x4:1
# text = My conker broke on the first hit.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	7	amod	_	_
7	hit	hit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | My conker |  |  | the first hit |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on hit=Location |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Conkers grow inside spiky green cases.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x5:1
# text = Conkers grow inside spiky green cases.
1	Conkers	conker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	spiky	spiky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	green	green	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	cases	case	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Conkers |  |  | spiky green cases |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme inside case=Location |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't eat conkers; they are poisonous.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x6:1
# text = Don't eat conkers; they are poisonous.
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	eat	eat	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	conkers	conker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **eat** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* | conkers |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conker=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | conkers *= conker* |  |  |  |  | poisonous *property* | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I put a hole in the conker and threaded a string through it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:conker:x7:1
# text = I put a hole in the conker and threaded a string through it.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	put	put	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	conker	conker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	threaded	thread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	through	through	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | past | I | a hole |  | the conker |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent hole=Theme in conker=Destination |
| 2 | **thread** | past | I *not said here* | a string |  | string |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent string=Patient |

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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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