---
title: diction — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «diction» in the school dictionary: Diction is the way a person chooses and says words, especially how clear or grand their speech or writing is. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# diction

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**Who acts:** Diction, person, words, old book, Good diction · **What happens:** be, choose, say, speak, hear, have · **To what, where:** way, words, word, stiff formal diction, actor · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Diction is the way a person chooses and says words, especially how clear or grand their speech or writing is.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diction:m1:1
# text = Diction is the way a person chooses and says words, especially how clear or grand their speech or writing is.
1	Diction	diction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	chooses	choose	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
10	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	especially	especially	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
14	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	parataxis	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	grand	grand	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	parataxis	_	_
19	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Diction | the way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **choose** | present | a person | the way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a person *not said here* | words |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |
| 4 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | clear, especially *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **speak** |  | words *= word* |  |  |  |  |  | nom speech «communication transitive»: poss=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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her diction was so clear that every word could be heard.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diction:x1:1
# text = Her diction was so clear that every word could be heard.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	diction	diction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Her diction |  |  |  |  | clear *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** | could · passive |  | every word |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old book has a stiff, formal diction.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diction:x2:1
# text = The old book has a stiff, formal diction.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
6	stiff	stiff	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	diction	diction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the old book | a stiff formal diction |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent diction=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Good diction helps an actor to be understood.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diction:x3:1
# text = Good diction helps an actor to be understood.
1	Good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	diction	diction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	actor	actor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	understood	understand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | Good diction | a actor |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent actor=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **understand** | to-infinitive · passive | Good diction *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V» |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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