---
title: petrifying — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «petrifying» in the school dictionary: To petrify is to turn something into stone. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# petrifying

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**Who acts:** they, sight, petrifying gaze · **What happens:** petrify, be, not move, sight, turn · **To what, where:** stone, dragon, knight

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«petrifying» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 2 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: [petrifying in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/petrifying.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To petrify is to turn something into stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:petrifying:m1:1
# text = To petrify is to turn something into stone.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	petrify	petrify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
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	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	stone	stone	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 | **petrify** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  | stone |  | turn *property* | tree rules |

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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 -->
To petrify is to frighten someone so badly they cannot move.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:petrifying:m2:1
# text = To petrify is to frighten someone so badly they cannot move.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	petrify	petrify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
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	frighten	frighten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
8	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **petrify** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | frighten *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **move** | can | they |  |  |  |  | badly *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sight of the dragon was petrifying.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:petrifying:x1:1
# text = The sight of the dragon was petrifying.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dragon	dragon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	petrifying	petrify	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **petrify** | past · progressive | the sight of the dragon |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **sight** |  |  | the dragon |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A petrifying gaze turned the knight to stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:petrifying:x2:1
# text = A petrifying gaze turned the knight to stone.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	petrifying	petrify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	amod	_	_
3	gaze	gaze	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **petrify** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **turn** | past | a petrifying gaze | the knight |  | stone |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent knight=Theme to stone=Trajectory |

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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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