---
title: farce — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «farce» in the school dictionary: A farce is a funny play or film full of silly situations, mix-ups, chases and people hiding in cupboards. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# farce

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** farce, people, situation, sports day, We, everyone · **What happens:** be, hide, watch, keep, slam, not turn up · **To what, where:** funny play, cupboards, situation, farce, doors, fair vote · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«farce» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 6 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: [farce in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/farce.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A farce is a funny play or film full of silly situations, mix-ups, chases and people hiding in cupboards.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:m1:1
# text = A farce is a funny play or film full of silly situations, mix-ups, chases and people hiding in cupboards.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	farce	farce	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	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	situations	situation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	mix	mix	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	ups	up	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	chases	chase	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	conj	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	conj	_	_
21	hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	20	acl	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	cupboards	cupboard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a farce | a funny play or film |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hide** | gerund | people *not said here* |  |  | cupboards |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in cupboard=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A farce is a situation that is so badly organised or unfair that it is ridiculous: «The sports day was a farce».

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:m2:1
# text = A farce is a situation that is so badly organised or unfair that it is ridiculous: «The sports day was a farce».
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	situation	situation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	_
10	organised	organised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	acl:relcl	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	ridiculous	ridiculous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	24	punct	_	_
18	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	sports	sport	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	compound	_	_
21	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a farce | a situation |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | a situation |  |  |  |  | badly, organised *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | a situation *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** | present | farce |  |  |  |  | ridiculous *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | the sports day | a farce |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We watched a farce where everyone kept slamming doors.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x1:1
# text = We watched a farce where everyone kept slamming doors.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	watched	watch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	7	advmod	_	_
6	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	7	nsubj	_	_
7	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	slamming	slam	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
9	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | past | We | a farce |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent farce=Theme |
| 2 | **keep** | past | everyone |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **slam** | gerund | everyone *not said here* | doors |  |  |  |  | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent door=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The match was a farce because the referee didn't turn up.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x2:1
# text = The match was a farce because the referee didn't turn up.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	match	match	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	referee	referee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
12	up	up	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the match | a farce |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **turn up** | past · do-support | the referee | a farce *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location farce=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The school trip turned into a farce when the bus broke down.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x3:1
# text = The school trip turned into a farce when the bus broke down.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	bus	bus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
12	down	down	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | past | the school trip |  |  | a farce |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into farce=Trajectory |
| 2 | **break down** | past | the bus |  |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The play is a farce full of mistaken identities.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x4:1
# text = The play is a farce full of mistaken identities.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	mistaken	mistaken	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	identities	identity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calling that a fair vote is a farce!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x5:1
# text = Calling that a fair vote is a farce!
1	Calling	call	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	vote	vote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	xcomp	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | gerund |  | a fair vote |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Calling | a farce |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Farce is one of the oldest kinds of comedy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:farce:x6:1
# text = Farce is one of the oldest kinds of comedy.
1	Farce	farce	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	kinds	kind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	comedy	comedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Farce | one |  |  |  | of the oldest kinds of comedy | tree rules |

<!-- 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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