---
title: imam — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «imam» in the school dictionary: An imam is the person who leads prayers in a mosque and often teaches and gives advice to Muslims. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# imam

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** imam, person, Muslims, family, RE class · **What happens:** be, lead, teach, give, descend, visit · **To what, where:** person, prayers, mosque, advice, Muslims, important religious leader · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«imam» in the school dictionary: its 2 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: [imam in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/imam.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: Islam — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An imam is the person who leads prayers in a mosque and often teaches and gives advice to Muslims.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:m1:1
# text = An imam is the person who leads prayers in a mosque and often teaches and gives advice to Muslims.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	leads	lead	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	prayers	prayer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	mosque	mosque	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	often	often	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	teaches	teach	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	ccomp	_	_
17	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	Muslims	Muslim	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	16	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a imam | the person |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **lead** | present | the person | prayers |  | a mosque |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent prayer=Theme in mosque=Destination |
| 3 | **teach** *speech: other* | present | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | often *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **give** | present |  | advice | Muslims |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent muslim=Recipient advice=Theme |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: Islam, especially Shia — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A title for an important religious leader descended from the Prophet Muhammad's family.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:m2:1
# text = A title for an important religious leader descended from the Prophet Muhammad's family.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	title	title	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	important	important	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	religious	religious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	descended	descend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	Prophet	Prophet	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	Muhammad	Muhammad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | participle |  | a important religious leader *not said here* |  | the Prophet Muhammad's family |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from family=Location |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The imam led the prayers at the mosque on Friday.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x1:1
# text = The imam led the prayers at the mosque on Friday.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prayers	prayer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	mosque	mosque	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Friday	Friday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lead** | past | the imam | the prayers |  | the mosque on Friday |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent prayer=Theme at mosque=Destination |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The imam visited our school to talk about Islam.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x2:1
# text = The imam visited our school to talk about Islam.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	visited	visit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Islam	Islam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | past | the imam | our school |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent school=Co-Agent |
| 2 | **talk** | to-infinitive | the imam *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about Islam | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about islam=Topic |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Muslims stand in rows behind the imam when they pray.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x3:1
# text = Muslims stand in rows behind the imam when they pray.
1	Muslims	Muslim	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	rows	row	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | present | Muslims |  |  | rows |  | behind the imam | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in row=Location |
| 2 | **pray** | present | Muslims *= muslim* |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The imam gave a talk about kindness to neighbours.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x4:1
# text = The imam gave a talk about kindness to neighbours.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	talk	talk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | the imam | a talk | neighbours |  |  | about kindness | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent talk=Theme to neighbour=Recipient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The family asked the imam to help with the wedding.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x5:1
# text = The family asked the imam to help with the wedding.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	wedding	wedding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the family | the imam |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent imam=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **help** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the imam *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the wedding | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with wedding=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An imam studies the Qur'an for many years.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x6:1
# text = An imam studies the Qur'an for many years.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	studies	study	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Qur'an	Qur'an	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **study** | present | a imam | the Qur'an |  |  | year |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent qur'an=Topic |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our RE class asked the imam questions about Ramadan.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:imam:x7:1
# text = Our RE class asked the imam questions about Ramadan.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	RE	RE	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	imam	imam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Ramadan	Ramadan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Our RE class | the imam questions |  |  |  | about Ramadan | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP PP.topic»: agent=Agent question=Recipient about ramadan=Topic |

<!-- 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 -->

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