---
title: neuter — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «neuter» in the school dictionary: To neuter a pet animal is to have a vet do an operation so it can't have babies. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neuter/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [N](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/) / neuter

# neuter

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** operation, Neuter, languages, We, cat, das · **What happens:** neuter, be, do, not have, mean, have · **To what, where:** pet animal, operation, babies, masculine, neuter nouns, sex organs

<!-- .vabout -->
«neuter» in the school dictionary: its 3 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: [neuter in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/neuter.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To neuter a pet animal is to have a vet do an operation so it can't have babies.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:m1:1
# text = To neuter a pet animal is to have a vet do an operation so it can't have babies.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	neuter	neuter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	pet	pet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	have	have	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	vet	vet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
12	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	operation	operation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
18	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
19	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **neuter** | to-infinitive |  | a pet animal |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | have *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | infinitive |  | a operation |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent operation=Eventuality |
| 4 | **not** **have** | can | operation | babies |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent baby=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}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neuter means neither masculine nor feminine; some languages, like German, have neuter nouns.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:m2:1
# text = Neuter means neither masculine nor feminine; some languages, like German, have neuter nouns.
1	Neuter	neuter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	neither	neither	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	4	cc:preconj	_	_
4	masculine	masculine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	6	cc	_	_
6	feminine	feminine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
8	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	German	German	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
15	neuter	neuter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	nouns	noun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Neuter | masculine nor feminine |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent masculine=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | present | some languages like German | neuter nouns |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent noun=Patient |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neuter can mean having no sex organs, like worker bees.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:m3:1
# text = Neuter can mean having no sex organs, like worker bees.
1	Neuter	neuter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
6	sex	sex	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	organs	organ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	worker	worker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	bees	bee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | can | Neuter |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** *not said to happen* | gerund | Neuter *not said here* | no sex organs and worker bees |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent organ=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We had our cat neutered at the vet.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x1:1
# text = We had our cat neutered at the vet.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	neutered	neuter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	vet	vet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | We | our cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **neuter** | participle | our cat *not said here* |  |  | the vet |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neutering helps stop too many stray kittens.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x2:1
# text = Neutering helps stop too many stray kittens.
1	Neutering	neuter	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	nsubj	_	_
2	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	stray	stray	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	kittens	kitten	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **neuter** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **help** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **stop** | infinitive |  | many stray kittens |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality kitten=Eventuality |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In German, «das Kind» is neuter.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x3:1
# text = In German, «das Kind» is neuter.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	German	German	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	das	da	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
6	Kind	Kind	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	neuter	neuter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | das | neuter |  | German |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
English nouns don't have neuter gender in grammar.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x4:1
# text = English nouns don't have neuter gender in grammar.
1	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	nouns	noun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	neuter	neuter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	gender	gender	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	grammar	grammar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **have** | present · do-support | English nouns | neuter gender |  | grammar |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gender=Patient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Worker ants are neuter.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x5:1
# text = Worker ants are neuter.
1	Worker	worker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	neuter	neuter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Worker ants | neuter |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The vet neuters dogs on Tuesdays.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:neuter:x6:1
# text = The vet neuters dogs on Tuesdays.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	vet	vet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	neuters	neuter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	compound	_	_
4	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Tuesdays	Tuesday	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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 -->
- ← previous: [network](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/network/)
- next →: [neutered](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/neutered/)
- ↑ back to [N in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/)