---
title: perplexity — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «perplexity» in the school dictionary: Perplexity is a state of being puzzled and not knowing what to think or do. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# perplexity

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Perplexity, He, door, puzzle · **What happens:** be, puzzle, not know, think, do, stand · **To what, where:** state, great perplexity, answer, perplexity, much perplexity, him · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Perplexity is a state of being puzzled and not knowing what to think or do.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:perplexity:m1:1
# text = Perplexity is a state of being puzzled and not knowing what to think or do.
1	Perplexity	perplexity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	puzzled	puzzle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	conj	_	_
11	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	13	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	ccomp	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Perplexity | a state |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **puzzle** | gerund · passive |  | a state *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |
| 3 | **not** **know** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **think** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |
| 5 | **do** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A puzzling thing or problem.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:perplexity:m2:1
# text = A puzzling thing or problem.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	puzzling	puzzling	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He stood in great perplexity, unable to work out the answer.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:perplexity:x1:1
# text = He stood in great perplexity, unable to work out the answer.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	perplexity	perplexity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	out	out	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | past | He |  |  | great perplexity |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in perplexity=Location |
| 2 | **work out** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | the answer |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Topic |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To her perplexity, the door would not open.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:perplexity:x2:1
# text = To her perplexity, the door would not open.
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	perplexity	perplexity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	open	open	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **open** | would | the door |  | her perplexity |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to perplexity=Recipient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The puzzle caused him much perplexity.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:perplexity:x3:1
# text = The puzzle caused him much perplexity.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	perplexity	perplexity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | the puzzle | much perplexity | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Causer he=Theme perplexity=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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