---
title: dumbfounded — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «dumbfounded» in the school dictionary: Dumbfounded means so surprised that you cannot speak or know what to say. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# dumbfounded

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**Who acts:** you, boy, he, words, king · **What happens:** dumbfound, mean, not speak, know, say, stare · **To what, where:** grandfather, merchant · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dumbfounded means so surprised that you cannot speak or know what to say.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dumbfounded:m1:1
# text = Dumbfounded means so surprised that you cannot speak or know what to say.
1	Dumbfounded	dumbfound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	surprised	surprised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
12	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	14	obj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dumbfound** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | surprised *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **speak** *speech: other* | can | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **know** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent 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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dumbfounded, the boy stared at the talking cat.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dumbfounded:x1:1
# text = Dumbfounded, the boy stared at the talking cat.
1	Dumbfounded	dumbfound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	stared	stare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	talking	talking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dumbfound** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **stare** | past | the boy |  |  |  |  | at the talking cat | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at cat=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My grandfather was so dumbfounded that he could only stand and stare.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dumbfounded:x2:1
# text = My grandfather was so dumbfounded that he could only stand and stare.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	grandfather	grandfather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	dumbfounded	dumbfound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	stare	stare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dumbfound** | past · passive |  | My grandfather |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | could | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **stare** | infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The merchant was dumbfounded by the king's words.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:dumbfounded:x3:1
# text = The merchant was dumbfounded by the king's words.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	merchant	merchant	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	dumbfounded	dumbfound	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dumbfound** | past · passive | the king's words | the merchant |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **word** |  | the king |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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