---
title: degenerate — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «degenerate» in the school dictionary: To degenerate is to get worse, falling from a good state into a worse one. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# degenerate

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Degenerate · **What happens:** degenerate, be, fall, mean, have, lose · **To what, where:** good state, game, shouting match, castle, ruins, degenerate creature · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: verb — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To degenerate is to get worse, falling from a good state into a worse one.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:degenerate:m1:1
# text = To degenerate is to get worse, falling from a good state into a worse one.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	degenerate	degenerate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
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	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	into	into	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	16	amod	_	_
16	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **degenerate** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | bad, get *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **fall** | gerund |  |  |  | a good state |  | into a worse one | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from state=Initial\_Location into one=Destination |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: adjective — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Degenerate means having fallen to a lower or worse state than before.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:degenerate:m2:1
# text = Degenerate means having fallen to a lower or worse state than before.
1	Degenerate	degenerate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	ccomp	_	_
4	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	conj	_	_
10	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	before	before	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Degenerate |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **fall** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to a lower state; before *property* | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to state=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The game degenerated into a shouting match.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:degenerate:x1:1
# text = The game degenerated into a shouting match.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	degenerated	degenerate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	shouting	shouting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	match	match	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **degenerate** | participle |  | the game *not said here* |  | a shouting match |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Over the years the castle degenerated into ruins.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:degenerate:x2:1
# text = Over the years the castle degenerated into ruins.
1	Over	over	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	degenerated	degenerate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	ruins	ruin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **degenerate** | participle |  | the castle *not said here* |  | ruins |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The degenerate creature had lost all its old strength.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:degenerate:x3:1
# text = The degenerate creature had lost all its old strength.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	degenerate	degenerate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	9	det:predet	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	strength	strength	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · perfect · passive |  | the degenerate creature |  |  |  |  | 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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