---
title: moulder — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «moulder» in the school dictionary: To moulder is to decay slowly and crumble, as old wood or stone does over many years. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# moulder

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** old wood, Mouldering, old dovecot, Nobody, castle · **What happens:** be, crumble, do over, moulder, describe, fall · **To what, where:** something, field, castle, moulder · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To moulder is to decay slowly and crumble, as old wood or stone does over many years.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moulder:m1:1
# text = To moulder is to decay slowly and crumble, as old wood or stone does over many years.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	moulder	moulder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	advcl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	decay	decay	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	crumble	crumble	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
15	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
16	over	over	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | decay, slowly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **crumble** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **do over** | present | old wood or stone |  |  |  | year |  | vn act-114-1 «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 -->
«Mouldering» describes something old, falling to pieces and rotting.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moulder:m2:1
# text = «Mouldering» describes something old, falling to pieces and rotting.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Mouldering	moulder	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obj	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	rotting	rot	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moulder** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **describe** | present | Mouldering | something |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent something=Theme |
| 3 | **fall** | gerund | Mouldering *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to pieces | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to piece=Theme |
| 4 | **rot** | gerund | Mouldering *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn entity\_specific\_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old dovecot was mouldering in the field.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moulder:x1:1
# text = The old dovecot was mouldering in the field.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dovecot	dovecot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	mouldering	moulder	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moulder** | past · progressive | the old dovecot |  |  | the field |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Old bones moulder in the ground.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moulder:x2:1
# text = Old bones moulder in the ground.
1	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	compound	_	_
3	moulder	moulder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody had lived in the castle for years, and it began to moulder.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moulder:x3:1
# text = Nobody had lived in the castle for years, and it began to moulder.
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lived	live	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	moulder	moulder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | past · perfect | Nobody |  |  | the castle | year |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in castle=Location |
| 2 | **begin** | past | castle | moulder |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

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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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