---
title: disobedience — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «disobedience» in the school dictionary: Disobedience is refusing or failing to do what a person in charge, a rule or a law tells you. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# disobedience

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Disobedience, person, Civil disobedience, dog, act, story · **What happens:** refuse, fail, not do, tell, mean, break · **To what, where:** you, law, purpose, dog, Adam disobedience, book · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«disobedience» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 8 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: [disobedience in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/disobedience.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Disobedience is refusing or failing to do what a person in charge, a rule or a law tells you.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:m1:1
# text = Disobedience is refusing or failing to do what a person in charge, a rule or a law tells you.
1	Disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	refusing	refuse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	failing	fail	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	obj	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	charge	charge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
19	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
20	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	19	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | present · progressive | Disobedience |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fail** | gerund | Disobedience *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **not** **do** | to-infinitive | Disobedience *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | a person in charge and a rule or a law |  | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient what=Topic |

<!-- .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: formal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Civil disobedience means breaking a law peacefully on purpose to protest that it is unfair.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:m2:1
# text = Civil disobedience means breaking a law peacefully on purpose to protest that it is unfair.
1	Civil	civil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	breaking	break	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	peacefully	peacefully	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	protest	protest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Civil disobedience |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **break** *not said to happen* | gerund | Civil disobedience *not said here* | a law |  | purpose |  | peacefully *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer law=Patient |
| 3 | **protest** *speech: disagree* | to-infinitive | Civil disobedience *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn rebel-71.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | disobedience |  |  |  |  | unfair *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dog was told off for its disobedience.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x1:1
# text = The dog was told off for its disobedience.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	off	off	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell off** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | the dog |  |  |  | for dog's disobedience | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **disobey** |  | dog |  |  |  |  |  | nom disobedience «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Disobedience to the rules can lead to a detention.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x2:1
# text = Disobedience to the rules can lead to a detention.
1	Disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	lead	lead	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	detention	detention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lead** | can | Disobedience to the rules |  |  |  |  | to a detention | vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition to detention=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Adam and Eve's disobedience is told in the book of Genesis.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x3:1
# text = Adam and Eve's disobedience is told in the book of Genesis.
1	Adam	Adam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	Eve	Eve	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Genesis	Genesis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | Adam disobedience |  | the book of Genesis |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience helped change unfair laws.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x4:1
# text = Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience helped change unfair laws.
1	Rosa	Rosa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	_
2	Parks	Parks	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	'	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
4	act	act	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	civil	civil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	helped	help	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
10	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	laws	law	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | past | Rosa's act of civil disobedience |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **change** | infinitive | Rosa's act of civil disobedience *not said here* | unfair laws |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent law=Patient |
| 3 | **act** |  | civil disobedience |  |  |  |  |  | nom act «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The soldier was punished for disobedience.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x5:1
# text = The soldier was punished for disobedience.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	soldier	soldier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	punished	punish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **punish** | past · passive |  | the soldier |  |  |  | for disobedience | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Patient for disobedience=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The story shows how disobedience got the boy into trouble.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x6:1
# text = The story shows how disobedience got the boy into trouble.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | the story |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **get** | past | disobedience | the boy |  | trouble |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer boy=Stimulus |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Peaceful disobedience can be brave when a law is unfair.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x7:1
# text = Peaceful disobedience can be brave when a law is unfair.
1	Peaceful	peaceful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	brave	brave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	10	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | can | Peaceful disobedience |  |  |  |  | brave *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | a law |  |  |  |  | unfair *property* | tree rules |

## Example 8 {#x8}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Poor Urashima! because of his disobedience he could never return to the Sea King’s realm or the lovely Princess beyond the sea.

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:disobedience:x8:1
# text = Poor Urashima! because of his disobedience he could never return to the Sea King’s realm or the lovely Princess beyond the sea.
1	Poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	Urashima	Urashima	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	fixed	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	disobedience	disobedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	Sea	Sea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	’s	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	realm	realm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
18	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	lovely	lovely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	Princess	Princess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	_
22	beyond	beyond	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **return** | could | Urashima's disobedience | Poor Urashima *not said here* |  | the Sea King's realm or the lovely Princess |  | beyond the sea | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent urashima=Theme to realm=Destination |
| 2 | **disobey** |  | Urashima |  |  |  |  |  | nom disobedience «act transitive»: poss=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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