---
title: helplessness — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «helplessness» in the school dictionary: Helplessness is the state of being unable to act or help oneself. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/helplessness/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [H](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/) / helplessness

# helplessness

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Helplessness, us, She, storm, friend · **What happens:** be, act, help, make, protect, feel · **To what, where:** state, oneself, us, helplessness

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Helplessness is the state of being unable to act or help oneself.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helplessness:m1:1
# text = Helplessness is the state of being unable to act or help oneself.
1	Helplessness	helplessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	cop	_	_
7	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	act	act	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
12	oneself	oneself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Helplessness | the state |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | unable *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **act** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **help** | infinitive |  | oneself |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent oneself=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 baby's helplessness made us protect her.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helplessness:x1:1
# text = The baby's helplessness made us protect her.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	helplessness	helplessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	protect	protect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the baby's helplessness | us |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **protect** | infinitive | us *not said here* |  | helplessness |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Beneficiary |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She felt helplessness as the storm grew.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helplessness:x2:1
# text = She felt helplessness as the storm grew.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	helplessness	helplessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | past | She | helplessness |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent helplessness=Theme |
| 2 | **grow** | past | the storm |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His helplessness turned to hope when a friend arrived.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:helplessness:x3:1
# text = His helplessness turned to hope when a friend arrived.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	helplessness	helplessness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	hope	hope	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	arrived	arrive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | past | His helplessness |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hope** | to-infinitive | His helplessness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **arrive** | past | a friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->
- ← previous: [helplessly](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/helplessly/)
- next →: [hem](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hem/)
- ↑ back to [H in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/)