---
title: inconsistent — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «inconsistent» in the school dictionary: Not staying the same; changing in quality or behaviour: an inconsistent player. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# inconsistent

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** two facts, results, we, Our, story, team · **What happens:** not stay, change, not agree, fit together, be, not follow · **To what, where:** same, quality, two facts, same rules, experiment, rules · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not staying the same; changing in quality or behaviour: an inconsistent player.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:m1:1
# text = Not staying the same; changing in quality or behaviour: an inconsistent player.
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	staying	stay	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	changing	change	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	quality	quality	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
12	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	player	player	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **stay** | gerund |  | the same |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **change** | gerund |  |  |  | quality or behaviour |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Not agreeing or fitting together: two facts that are inconsistent with each other.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:m2:1
# text = Not agreeing or fitting together: two facts that are inconsistent with each other.
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	agreeing	agree	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	fitting	fit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
5	together	together	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
7	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	11	obl	_	_
14	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **agree** *speech: agree* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fit together** | gerund |  | two facts |  |  |  | together *property* | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fact=Patient |
| 3 | **is** | present | two facts |  |  |  |  | with each; inconsistent *property* | tree rules |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not following the same rules each time: inconsistent marking.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:m3:1
# text = Not following the same rules each time: inconsistent marking.
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	marking	marking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **follow** | gerund |  | the same rules |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our results were inconsistent, so we repeated the experiment.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x1:1
# text = Our results were inconsistent, so we repeated the experiment.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	results	result	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	repeated	repeat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	experiment	experiment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Our results |  |  |  |  | inconsistent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **repeat** | past | we | the experiment |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent experiment=Eventuality |
| 3 | **result** |  | Our |  |  |  |  |  | nom result «phenomenon transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His story was inconsistent with the footprints.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x2:1
# text = His story was inconsistent with the footprints.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	footprints	footprint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | His story |  |  |  |  | with the footprints; inconsistent *property* | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The team has been inconsistent all season.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x3:1
# text = The team has been inconsistent all season.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	team	team	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	season	season	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present · perfect | the team |  |  |  | season | inconsistent *property* | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The rules were applied in an inconsistent way, which felt unfair.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x4:1
# text = The rules were applied in an inconsistent way, which felt unfair.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	applied	apply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	unfair	unfair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | past · passive |  | the rules |  | a inconsistent way |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in way=Destination |
| 2 | **feel** | past | a inconsistent way |  |  |  |  | unfair *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My handwriting is inconsistent: neat at first, messy at the end.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x5:1
# text = My handwriting is inconsistent: neat at first, messy at the end.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	handwriting	handwriting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
6	neat	neat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	messy	messy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | My handwriting |  |  |  |  | inconsistent *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | My handwriting *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | My handwriting *not said here* |  |  |  | at the end |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **handwrite** |  | My |  |  |  |  |  | nom handwriting «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saying «I never lie» and then lying is inconsistent.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x6:1
# text = Saying «I never lie» and then lying is inconsistent.
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	csubj	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	lie	lie	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
9	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **lie** *in a quote* | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **lie** | gerund |  |  |  |  | then |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | Saying |  |  |  |  | inconsistent *property* | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The numerous traditions which have gathered around the original idea vary to some extent according to their locality, but they are never radically inconsistent.

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:inconsistent:x7:1
# text = The numerous traditions which have gathered around the original idea vary to some extent according to their locality, but they are never radically inconsistent.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	traditions	tradition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	gathered	gather	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	around	around	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	vary	vary	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	extent	extent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	18	case	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	fixed	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	locality	locality	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
22	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
23	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	25	advmod	_	_
24	radically	radically	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	inconsistent	inconsistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gather** | present · perfect · passive |  | the numerous traditions |  | the original idea |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **vary** | infinitive | the numerous traditions |  |  |  |  | to some extent accord traditions's locality | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **not** **is** | present | traditions *= tradition* |  |  |  |  | inconsistent, radically *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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