---
title: housefly — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «housefly» in the school dictionary: A common small grey fly that lives near people and buzzes around houses, food and rubbish. 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/housefly/)

<!-- 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/) / housefly

# housefly

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** common small grey fly, Houseflies, housefly, Maggots · **What happens:** live, land, spread, cover, have, grow · **To what, where:** houses, housefly, sandwich, germs, food, two wings

<!-- .vabout -->
«housefly» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 6 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: [housefly in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/housefly.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A common small grey fly that lives near people and buzzes around houses, food and rubbish.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:m1:1
# text = A common small grey fly that lives near people and buzzes around houses, food and rubbish.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
3	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	grey	grey	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	fly	fly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	lives	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	near	near	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	buzzes	buzz	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	_
12	around	around	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	houses	house	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | a common small grey fly |  |  | houses and food and rubbish |  | near people and buzzes | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near people=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
A housefly landed on my sandwich.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x1:1
# text = A housefly landed on my sandwich.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	housefly	housefly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	landed	land	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sandwich	sandwich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **land** | participle |  | a housefly *not said here* |  | my sandwich |  |  | vn pocket-9.10-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme on sandwich=Destination |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Houseflies spread germs, so cover your food.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x2:1
# text = Houseflies spread germs, so cover your food.
1	Houseflies	housefly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	spread	spread	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	cover	cover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
7	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | present | Houseflies | germs |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location germ=Theme |
| 2 | **cover** | infinitive | Houseflies *not said here* | your food |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme food=Destination |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A housefly has two wings and six legs.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x3:1
# text = A housefly has two wings and six legs.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	housefly	housefly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | a housefly | two wings and six legs |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wing=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Maggots grow into houseflies.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x4:1
# text = Maggots grow into houseflies.
1	Maggots	maggot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	houseflies	housefly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Maggots |  |  |  |  | into houseflies *result* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into housefly=Result |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The housefly buzzed against the window.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x5:1
# text = The housefly buzzed against the window.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	housefly	housefly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	buzzed	buzz	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	against	against	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buzz** | past | the housefly |  |  | the window |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme against window=Location |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A housefly tastes with its feet.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:housefly:x6:1
# text = A housefly tastes with its feet.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	housefly	housefly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tastes	taste	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **taste** | present | a housefly |  |  |  |  | with housefly's feet | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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