---
title: poorly — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «poorly» in the school dictionary: Poorly means badly, not well: «The team played poorly.». Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# poorly

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** team, Grandad, we, He, I, plants · **What happens:** mean, play, be, pay, get, lit · **To what, where:** today, little money, street, torch, spelling test, Mum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Poorly means badly, not well: «The team played poorly.».

<!-- fold The tree, 9 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:m1:1
# text = Poorly means badly, not well: «The team played poorly.».
1	Poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	team	team	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	played	play	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
12	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | badly, poorly, well *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **play** *in a quote* | past | the team |  |  |  |  | poorly *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In British and Irish English, «poorly» also means ill or unwell: «Grandad is poorly today.».

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:m2:1
# text = In British and Irish English, «poorly» also means ill or unwell: «Grandad is poorly today.».
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	Irish	Irish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
5	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	also	also	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	unwell	unwell	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	20	punct	_	_
16	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | in British English; ill, poorly *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot in english=Attribute |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Grandad | today |  |  |  | poorly *property* | tree rules |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Poorly paid» means getting too little money.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:m3:1
# text = «Poorly paid» means getting too little money.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	getting	get	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  | poorly *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **get** *not said to happen* | gerund |  | little money |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer money=Stimulus |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The street was poorly lit, so we used a torch.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x1:1
# text = The street was poorly lit, so we used a torch.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	street	street	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	lit	lit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	torch	torch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lit** | past · passive |  | the street |  |  |  | poorly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | past | we | a torch |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent torch=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He did poorly on the spelling test because he didn't practise.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x2:1
# text = He did poorly on the spelling test because he didn't practise.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	practise	practise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | He |  |  | the spelling test |  | poorly *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **practise** | past · do-support | he |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I'm feeling poorly, Mum, can I stay home?

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x3:1
# text = I'm feeling poorly, Mum, can I stay home?
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'm	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	feeling	feel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	Mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
11	home	home	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | present · progressive | I | Mum |  |  |  | poorly *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **stay** | can | I |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The plants grew poorly in the dark cupboard.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x4:1
# text = The plants grew poorly in the dark cupboard.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	cupboard	cupboard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | past | the plants |  |  | the dark cupboard |  | poorly *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cupboard=Location |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our team played poorly in the first half but won in the end.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x5:1
# text = Our team played poorly in the first half but won in the end.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	team	team	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	played	play	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	amod	_	_
8	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	3	obl	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	won	win	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **play** | past | Our team |  |  | the first half |  | poorly *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **win** | past | Our team *not said here* |  |  |  | in the end |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V PP.eventuality S\_ING»: agent=Agent in end=Eventuality |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The house was poorly built and the roof leaked.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:poorly:x6:1
# text = The house was poorly built and the roof leaked.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	poorly	poorly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	roof	roof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	leaked	leak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | past · passive |  | the house |  |  |  | poorly *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 2 | **leak** | past | the roof |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

<!-- 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 -->

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