---
title: gainsay — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «gainsay» in the school dictionary: To gainsay is to say that something is not true; to deny or argue against it. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# gainsay

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** something, Nobody, He, I, sky · **What happens:** gainsay, be, not be, deny, argue, not agree · **To what, where:** someone, queen, master · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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«gainsay» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings 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: [gainsay in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/gainsay.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To gainsay is to say that something is not true; to deny or argue against it.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gainsay:m1:1
# text = To gainsay is to say that something is not true; to deny or argue against it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	gainsay	gainsay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	deny	deny	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	argue	argue	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
16	against	against	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gainsay** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  |  |  |  |  | say *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **is** | present | something |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **deny** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | against it | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To gainsay someone is to refuse to agree with them.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gainsay:m2:1
# text = To gainsay someone is to refuse to agree with them.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	gainsay	gainsay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	refuse	refuse	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	agree	agree	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gainsay** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | refuse *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **agree** *speech: agree* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with them *= they* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent how S»: agent=Agent with they=Co-Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody could gainsay the queen.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gainsay:x1:1
# text = Nobody could gainsay the queen.
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	gainsay	gainsay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gainsay** | could | Nobody | the queen |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He dared not gainsay his master.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gainsay:x2:1
# text = He dared not gainsay his master.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	dared	dare	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
4	gainsay	gainsay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I cannot gainsay that the sky is blue.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:gainsay:x3:1
# text = I cannot gainsay that the sky is blue.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	gainsay	gainsay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	blue	blue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **gainsay** | can | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | the sky |  |  |  |  | blue *property* | 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 -->

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