---
title: diffident — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «diffident» in the school dictionary: Shy and not sure of yourself; not wanting to speak up or push yourself forward. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# diffident

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** diffident boy, Mole, She, He, his, you · **What happens:** not want, speak up, push, speak, feel, give · **To what, where:** yourself, class, diffident smile, drawing, new girl, diffident voice · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shy and not sure of yourself; not wanting to speak up or push yourself forward.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:m1:1
# text = Shy and not sure of yourself; not wanting to speak up or push yourself forward.
1	Shy	shy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	yourself	yourself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	wanting	want	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	push	push	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	conj	_	_
15	yourself	yourself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	14	obj	_	_
16	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **want** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **speak up** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn lecture-37.11-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **push** | infinitive |  | yourself |  |  |  | forward *property* | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent yourself=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
The diffident boy rarely spoke in class.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x1:1
# text = The diffident boy rarely spoke in class.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	rarely	rarely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | the diffident boy |  |  | class |  | rarely *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mole felt diffident in front of the great Badger.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x2:1
# text = Mole felt diffident in front of the great Badger.
1	Mole	Mole	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | past | Mole |  |  |  |  | in front of the great Badger; diffident *property* | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Theme in front=Attribute |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gave a diffident smile.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x3:1
# text = She gave a diffident smile.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | She | a diffident smile |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent smile=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was diffident about showing his drawing.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x4:1
# text = He was diffident about showing his drawing.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	showing	show	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	drawing	drawing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | diffident *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | gerund | He *not said here* | his drawing |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent drawing=Recipient |
| 3 | **draw** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom drawing «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't be diffident — your idea is good!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x5:1
# text = Don't be diffident — your idea is good!
1	Do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obj	_	_
5	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | diffident *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | your idea |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The new girl was diffident on her first day.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x6:1
# text = The new girl was diffident on her first day.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	girl	girl	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	diffident	diffident	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	amod	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diffident** | past · passive |  | the new girl |  |  | day |  | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a diffident voice, he asked for help.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:diffident:x7:1
# text = In a diffident voice, he asked for help.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	diffident	diffident	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | he |  |  | a diffident voice |  | for help | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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 -->

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