---
title: ponder — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ponder» in the school dictionary: To ponder is to think about something slowly and carefully for a long time before deciding. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# ponder

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**Who acts:** long time, I, She, old man, man · **What happens:** ponder, be, decide, answer, understand · **To what, where:** puzzle, words, riddle · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To ponder is to think about something slowly and carefully for a long time before deciding.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ponder:m1:1
# text = To ponder is to think about something slowly and carefully for a long time before deciding.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ponder	ponder	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	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obl	_	_
8	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	carefully	carefully	ADV	RB	_	8	conj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
15	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
16	deciding	decide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ponder** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **be** *speech: other* | present |  |  |  |  | time | about something; slowly, think *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **decide** | gerund | a long time *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I must ponder this puzzle before I answer.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ponder:x1:1
# text = I must ponder this puzzle before I answer.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	ponder	ponder	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	puzzle	puzzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	answer	answer	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ponder** | must | I | this puzzle |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **answer** *speech: assert* | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She pondered the words for a long time.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ponder:x2:1
# text = She pondered the words for a long time.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pondered	ponder	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ponder** | past | She | the words |  |  | time |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man pondered over the riddle until he understood it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ponder:x3:1
# text = The old man pondered over the riddle until he understood it.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	pondered	ponder	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	over	over	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	riddle	riddle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	understood	understand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ponder** | past | the old man |  |  | the riddle |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **understand** | past | man | riddle |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

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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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