---
title: detective — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «detective» in the school dictionary: A detective is a police officer or private worker whose job is to find out who did a crime and how. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detective/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [D](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/) / detective

# detective

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** detective, job, Sherlock, sister, you, maths detectives · **What happens:** be, do, look, solve, find, love · **To what, where:** police officer, crime, puzzle, muddy footprint, famous detective, stories · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«detective» in the school dictionary: its 3 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: [detective in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/detective.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A detective is a police officer or private worker whose job is to find out who did a crime and how.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:m1:1
# text = A detective is a police officer or private worker whose job is to find out who did a crime and how.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	police	police	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	officer	officer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	worker	worker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	acl:relcl	_	_
15	out	out	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	_
16	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
17	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	ccomp	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	crime	crime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a detective | a police officer or private worker |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | job |  |  |  |  | find *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | past |  | a crime |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent crime=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Anyone who looks closely at clues to solve a puzzle or mystery.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:m2:1
# text = Anyone who looks closely at clues to solve a puzzle or mystery.
1	Anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	0	root	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	closely	closely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	clues	clue	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	solve	solve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	mystery	mystery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | present |  |  |  |  |  | at clues; closely *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at clue=Theme |
| 2 | **solve** | to-infinitive |  | a puzzle or mystery |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent puzzle=Topic |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As an adjective: about solving crimes, as in «detective story» or «detective work».

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:m3:1
# text = As an adjective: about solving crimes, as in «detective story» or «detective work».
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	adjective	adjective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	solving	solve	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	crimes	crime	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The detective found a muddy footprint by the window.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x1:1
# text = The detective found a muddy footprint by the window.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	muddy	muddy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	footprint	footprint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | past | the detective | a muddy footprint |  |  |  | by the window | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent footprint=Topic |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sherlock Holmes is a famous detective in stories.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x2:1
# text = Sherlock Holmes is a famous detective in stories.
1	Sherlock	Sherlock	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	Holmes	Holmes	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Sherlock | a famous detective |  | stories |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My sister loves reading detective books.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x3:1
# text = My sister loves reading detective books.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	loves	love	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	reading	read	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **love** | present | My sister |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **read** *not said to happen* | gerund | My sister *not said here* | detective books |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Topic |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Let's be maths detectives and find the missing number.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x4:1
# text = Let's be maths detectives and find the missing number.
1	Let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
4	maths	maths	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	detectives	detective	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	missing	missing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | imperative | you *not said here* | 's |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | infinitive | maths detectives |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **find** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the missing number |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A private detective was hired to find the lost dog.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x5:1
# text = A private detective was hired to find the lost dog.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	hired	hire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hire** | past · passive |  | a private detective |  |  |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 2 | **find** | to-infinitive |  | the lost dog |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dog=Topic |
| 3 | **lose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It took some detective work to find where my sock went.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x6:1
# text = It took some detective work to find where my sock went.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
4	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	11	advmod	_	_
9	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	sock	sock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | It | some detective work |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Theme |
| 2 | **find** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **go** | past | my sock |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The detective asked everyone where they had been.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:detective:x7:1
# text = The detective asked everyone where they had been.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detective	detective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	3	obj	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	8	advmod	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the detective |  | everyone |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent everyone=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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [detection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detection/)
- next →: [detector](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/detector/)
- ↑ back to [D in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/)