---
title: dearth — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «dearth» in the school dictionary: A dearth is a shortage, a time when there is not enough of something, such as food. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# dearth

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**Who acts:** dearth, summer, town, family · **What happens:** be, not be, fail, have, grow · **To what, where:** shortage, dearth

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dearth is a shortage, a time when there is not enough of something, such as food.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dearth:m1:1
# text = A dearth is a shortage, a time when there is not enough of something, such as food.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dearth	dearth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	shortage	shortage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
10	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	13	expl	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	enough	enough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	acl:relcl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	19	case	_	_
18	as	as	ADP	IN	_	17	fixed	_	_
19	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a dearth | a shortage |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present |  |  |  | there |  | of something; enough *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
There was a dearth of rain that summer and the crops failed.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dearth:x1:1
# text = There was a dearth of rain that summer and the crops failed.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dearth	dearth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obj	_	_
8	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	crops	crop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
12	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | a dearth of rain |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **fail** | past | summer and the crops | a dearth of rain |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our town had a dearth of doctors.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dearth:x2:1
# text = Our town had a dearth of doctors.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	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	dearth	dearth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	doctors	doctor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Our town | a dearth of doctors |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dearth=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the dearth of bread, the family grew hungry.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dearth:x3:1
# text = In the dearth of bread, the family grew hungry.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	dearth	dearth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | past | the family |  |  | the dearth of bread |  | hungry *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in dearth=Location |

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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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