---
title: idly — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «idly» in the school dictionary: In a lazy way, doing nothing useful. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# idly

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**Who acts:** lazy way, thoughts, boy, you, she · **What happens:** do, drift, sit, lie, ask, pick · **To what, where:** nothing, wall · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a lazy way, doing nothing useful.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:idly:m1:1
# text = In a lazy way, doing nothing useful.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	lazy	lazy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
7	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	obj	_	_
8	useful	useful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | gerund | a lazy way *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=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 -->
In a dreamy, careless way, without real purpose, as when thoughts drift.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:idly:m2:1
# text = In a dreamy, careless way, without real purpose, as when thoughts drift.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
3	dreamy	dreamy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	careless	careless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	without	without	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
13	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
14	thoughts	thought	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
15	drift	drift	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drift** | present | thoughts |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The boy sat idly on the wall.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:idly:x1:1
# text = The boy sat idly on the wall.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	idly	idly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | past | the boy |  |  | the wall |  | idly *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on wall=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Why are you lying there idly?» she asked.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:idly:x2:1
# text = «Why are you lying there idly?» she asked.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	ccomp	_	_
6	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
7	idly	idly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** *in a quote* | present · progressive | you |  |  | there |  | idly *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She idly picked at the grass while she thought.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:idly:x3:1
# text = She idly picked at the grass while she thought.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	idly	idly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	picked	pick	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pick** | past | She |  |  |  |  | at the grass; idly *property* | vn chew-39.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at grass=Patient |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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