---
title: postern — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «postern» in the school dictionary: A small back gate or door in a castle wall, used to slip in or out unseen. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# postern

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**Who acts:** He, clock, guards · **What happens:** use, slip, lock, creep out, strike, not see · **To what, where:** castle wall, doors, postern, nine

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A small back gate or door in a castle wall, used to slip in or out unseen.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:postern:m1:1
# text = A small back gate or door in a castle wall, used to slip in or out unseen.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	slip	slip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	in	in	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	out	out	ADV	RB	_	15	conj	_	_
18	unseen	unseen	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | participle |  | a castle wall *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **slip** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | unseen *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
All the doors and posterns were locked.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:postern:x1:1
# text = All the doors and posterns were locked.
1	All	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	3	det:predet	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	posterns	postern	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	locked	lock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lock** | past · passive |  | all doors and posterns |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He crept out through a postern as the clock struck nine.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:postern:x2:1
# text = He crept out through a postern as the clock struck nine.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	crept	creep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	postern	postern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	clock	clock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
11	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **creep out** | past | He |  |  | a postern |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through postern=Trajectory |
| 2 | **strike** | past | the clock | nine |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nine=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guards did not see the postern.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:postern:x3:1
# text = The guards did not see the postern.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	postern	postern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | past · do-support | the guards | the postern |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer postern=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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