---
title: ferryman — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ferryman» in the school dictionary: A ferryman is a person whose job is to row or steer a boat that carries people across a river or lake. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# ferryman

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ferryman, job, boat, old ferryman, you · **What happens:** be, steer, carry, ask, go, not get in · **To what, where:** person, boat, people, river, ferryman · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ferryman is a person whose job is to row or steer a boat that carries people across a river or lake.

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ferryman:m1:1
# text = A ferryman is a person whose job is to row or steer a boat that carries people across a river or lake.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ferryman	ferryman	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	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	row	row	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	carries	carry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
18	across	across	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
21	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a ferryman | a person |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | job |  |  |  |  | row *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **steer** | infinitive | job *not said here* | a boat |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boat=Theme |
| 4 | **carry** | present | a boat | people |  | a river or lake |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=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 old ferryman asked: 'Are you going far, my friend?'

<!-- fold The tree, 10 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ferryman:x1:1
# text = The old ferryman asked: 'Are you going far, my friend?'
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ferryman	ferryman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
6	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the old ferryman |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** | present · progressive | you |  |  |  |  | far *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ferryman did not get in but pushed the boat off.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ferryman:x2:1
# text = The ferryman did not get in but pushed the boat off.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ferryman	ferryman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	pushed	push	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	off	off	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **get in** | past · do-support | the ferryman |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **push off** | past | the ferryman *not said here* | the boat |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boat=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ferryman has rowed to and fro for thirty years.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ferryman:x3:1
# text = The ferryman has rowed to and fro for thirty years.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ferryman	ferryman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	rowed	row	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	fro	fro	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	thirty	thirty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **row** | present · perfect · passive |  | the ferryman |  |  |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **fro** | infinitive |  |  |  |  | year |  | tree rules |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
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