---
title: helpless — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «helpless» in the school dictionary: Helpless means not able to look after yourself or do things without help, like a newborn baby. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# helpless

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Helpless, you, newborn baby, Baby birds, I, my · **What happens:** mean, look, do, change, stop, happen · **To what, where:** things, bad situation, something, laughter laughter, parents, kite

<!-- .vabout -->
«helpless» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 7 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: [helpless in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/helpless.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Helpless means not able to look after yourself or do things without help, like a newborn baby.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:m1:1
# text = Helpless means not able to look after yourself or do things without help, like a newborn baby.
1	Helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	yourself	yourself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	6	obl	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
11	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	without	without	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	like	like	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	newborn	newborn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Helpless |  |  |  |  | able *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **look** | to-infinitive | Helpless *not said here* |  |  |  | after yourself |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **do** | infinitive | Helpless *not said here* | things |  |  |  | without help; like a newborn baby | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Helpless means unable to change a bad situation or stop something happening.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:m2:1
# text = Helpless means unable to change a bad situation or stop something happening.
1	Helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	situation	situation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
11	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	obj	_	_
12	happening	happen	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Helpless |  |  |  |  | unable *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **change** | to-infinitive | Helpless *not said here* | a bad situation |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent situation=Patient |
| 3 | **stop** | infinitive | Helpless *not said here* | something |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **happen** | gerund | Helpless *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Helpless laughter is laughter you cannot stop.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:m3:1
# text = Helpless laughter is laughter you cannot stop.
1	Helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | laughter laughter |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **stop** | can | you | laughter laughter *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector laughter=Eventuality |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A newborn baby is completely helpless.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x1:1
# text = A newborn baby is completely helpless.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	newborn	newborn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a newborn baby |  |  |  |  | completely, helpless *property* | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Baby birds are helpless and need their parents to feed them.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x2:1
# text = Baby birds are helpless and need their parents to feed them.
1	Baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	feed	feed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Baby birds |  |  |  |  | helpless *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **need** | present | Baby birds *not said here* | birds's parents |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot parent=Theme |
| 3 | **feed** | to-infinitive | Baby birds *not said here* | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Recipient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I felt helpless when I saw my kite stuck in the tree.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x3:1
# text = I felt helpless when I saw my kite stuck in the tree.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	kite	kite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	stuck	stuck	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | past | I |  |  |  |  | helpless *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **see** | past | I | my kite |  |  |  | stuck *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer kite=Stimulus |
| 3 | **kite** |  | my |  |  |  |  |  | nom kite «possession transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The puppy lay helpless in the cold rain until we rescued it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x4:1
# text = The puppy lay helpless in the cold rain until we rescued it.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	puppy	puppy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lay	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	rescued	rescue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | past | the puppy |  |  | the cold rain |  | helpless *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in rain=Location |
| 2 | **rescue** | past | we | puppy |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were helpless with laughter at the funny film.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x5:1
# text = They were helpless with laughter at the funny film.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | They |  |  | the funny film |  | with laughter; helpless *property* | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Without its shell, a tortoise would be helpless.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x6:1
# text = Without its shell, a tortoise would be helpless.
1	Without	without	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	cop	_	_
9	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would | a tortoise |  |  |  |  | without its shell; helpless *property* | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I have to look after my grandmother, who is very helpless.’

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helpless:x7:1
# text = I have to look after my grandmother, who is very helpless.’
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	grandmother	grandmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	very	very	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  | after my grandmother |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** | present | my grandmother |  |  |  |  | helpless *property* | 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
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