---
title: outdo — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «outdo» in the school dictionary: To outdo someone is to do better than them, to beat them at something. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# outdo

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**Who acts:** you, clever fox, Sam · **What happens:** outdo, be, beat, run, try · **To what, where:** someone, them, something, me, wolf, sister

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«outdo» in the school dictionary: its meaning 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: [outdo in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/outdo.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To outdo someone is to do better than them, to beat them at something.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outdo:m1:1
# text = To outdo someone is to do better than them, to beat them at something.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	outdo	outdo	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	better	well	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	beat	beat	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outdo** | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot someone=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | do, well *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **beat** | to-infinitive |  | them *= they* |  | something |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location they=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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Can you outdo me at running?

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outdo:x1:1
# text = Can you outdo me at running?
1	Can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	outdo	outdo	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	running	run	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **outdo** | can | you | me |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot i=Theme |
| 2 | **run** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The clever fox tried to outdo the wolf.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outdo:x2:1
# text = The clever fox tried to outdo the wolf.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	outdo	outdo	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the clever fox |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **outdo** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the clever fox *not said here* | the wolf |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot wolf=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sam tried to outdo his sister with a bigger cake.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:outdo:x3:1
# text = Sam tried to outdo his sister with a bigger cake.
1	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	outdo	outdo	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	cake	cake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | Sam |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **outdo** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Sam *not said here* | Sam's sister |  |  |  | with a bigger cake | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sister=Theme |

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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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