---
title: fourpence — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «fourpence» in the school dictionary: Fourpence is four pence, an old British sum of money (a small amount, worth about 4p now). Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# fourpence

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**Who acts:** Fourpence, He, you, loaf · **What happens:** be, sum, have, hand out, cost · **To what, where:** four pence, money, one pound, purse, me, fourpence

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fourpence is four pence, an old British sum of money (a small amount, worth about 4p now).

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:fourpence:m1:1
# text = Fourpence is four pence, an old British sum of money (a small amount, worth about 4p now).
1	Fourpence	fourpence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	pence	pence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	amount	amount	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	worth	worth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
18	about	about	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	4	4	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	20	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	p	p	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
21	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Fourpence | four pence |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sum** |  |  | money |  |  |  |  | nom sum «possession transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
He had one pound thirteen shillings and fourpence in his purse.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:fourpence:x1:1
# text = He had one pound thirteen shillings and fourpence in his purse.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	pound	pound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	thirteen	thirteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	shillings	shilling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fourpence	fourpence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	purse	purse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | He | one pound |  | his purse |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Please hand me out one pound thirteen and fourpence.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:fourpence:x2:1
# text = Please hand me out one pound thirteen and fourpence.
1	Please	please	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
2	hand	hand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
6	pound	pound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	thirteen	thirteen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	fourpence	fourpence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hand out** | imperative | you *not said here* | me |  |  |  | one pound thirteen and fourpence *obl:unmarked* | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent i=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A loaf once cost fourpence.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:fourpence:x3:1
# text = A loaf once cost fourpence.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	loaf	loaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	advmod	_	_
4	cost	cost	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	fourpence	fourpence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cost** | past | a loaf | fourpence |  |  |  | once *property* | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme fourpence=Value |

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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.

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