---
title: ligament — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ligament» in the school dictionary: A ligament is a strong, slightly stretchy band in your body that joins one bone to another at a joint, like the knee or ankle. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# ligament

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ligament, that, Ligaments, footballer, sprained ankle, Warming · **What happens:** be, join, hold, stop, bend, tore · **To what, where:** strong stretchy band, body, one bone, joint, joints, wrong way · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ligament is a strong, slightly stretchy band in your body that joins one bone to another at a joint, like the knee or ankle.

<!-- fold The tree, 25 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:m1:1
# text = A ligament is a strong, slightly stretchy band in your body that joins one bone to another at a joint, like the knee or ankle.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ligament	ligament	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
5	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	slightly	slightly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	stretchy	stretchy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	band	band	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	joins	join	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
15	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nummod	_	_
16	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	obl	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	joint	joint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	like	like	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	knee	knee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	parataxis	_	_
26	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	ankle	ankle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a ligament | a strong stretchy band |  | your body |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **join** | present | that | one bone |  | a joint |  | to another | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent bone=Patient to another=Co-Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Ligaments hold joints together and stop them bending the wrong way.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:m2:1
# text = Ligaments hold joints together and stop them bending the wrong way.
1	Ligaments	ligament	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	hold	hold	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	joints	joint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	together	together	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	stop	stop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	bending	bend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	xcomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | present | Ligaments | joints |  |  |  | together *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent joint=Theme |
| 2 | **stop** | present | Ligaments *not said here* | joints *= joint* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **bend** | gerund | Ligaments *not said here* | the wrong way |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent way=Material |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ligaments join bone to bone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x1:1
# text = Ligaments join bone to bone.
1	Ligaments	ligament	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	join	join	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bone	bone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | present | Ligaments | bone |  |  |  | to bone | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent bone=Patient to bone=Co-Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The footballer tore a ligament in his knee.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x2:1
# text = The footballer tore a ligament in his knee.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	footballer	footballer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tore	tore	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	ligament	ligament	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	knee	knee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tore** | past | the footballer | a ligament |  | footballer's knee |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sprained ankle means a ligament has been stretched too far.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x3:1
# text = A sprained ankle means a ligament has been stretched too far.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sprained	sprain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	ankle	ankle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ligament	ligament	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	stretched	stretch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sprain** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **mean** | present | a sprained ankle |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **stretch** | present · perfect · passive |  | a ligament |  |  |  | far *property* | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Warming up helps protect your muscles and ligaments.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x4:1
# text = Warming up helps protect your muscles and ligaments.
1	Warming	warm	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	csubj	_	_
2	up	up	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	protect	protect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
5	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	muscles	muscle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	ligaments	ligament	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warm up** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **help** | present | Warming |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **protect** | infinitive | Warming *not said here* | your muscles and ligaments |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent muscle=Beneficiary |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The doctor said the ligament would heal in six weeks.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x5:1
# text = The doctor said the ligament would heal in six weeks.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	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	ligament	ligament	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	heal	heal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the doctor |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **heal** | would | the ligament |  |  |  | week |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tendons attach muscles to bones, but ligaments attach bones to bones.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ligament:x6:1
# text = Tendons attach muscles to bones, but ligaments attach bones to bones.
1	Tendons	tendon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attach	attach	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	muscles	muscle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	ligaments	ligament	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	attach	attach	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attach** | present | Tendons | muscles |  |  |  | to bones | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent muscle=Patient to bone=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **attach** | present | ligaments | bones |  |  |  | to bones | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent bone=Patient to bone=Co-Patient |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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