---
title: pretense — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «pretense» in the school dictionary: A pretense is a false show, where someone acts as if something is true when it is not. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# pretense

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**Who acts:** pretense, someone, something, He, man, cat · **What happens:** be, act, come, buy, steal, make · **To what, where:** false show, pretense, hare

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A pretense is a false show, where someone acts as if something is true when it is not.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pretense:m1:1
# text = A pretense is a false show, where someone acts as if something is true when it is not.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pretense	pretense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	show	show	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	10	advmod	_	_
9	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	nsubj	_	_
10	acts	act	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
13	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	parataxis	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a pretense | a false show |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **act** | present | someone |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | something |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
He came to the king on the pretense of being a servant.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pretense:x1:1
# text = He came to the king on the pretense of being a servant.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pretense	pretense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | He |  |  | the pretense |  | to the king | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to king=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | of a servant | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Under the pretense of buying the hare, the man stole it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pretense:x2:1
# text = Under the pretense of buying the hare, the man stole it.
1	Under	under	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	pretense	pretense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	buying	buy	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	stole	steal	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buy** | gerund | the pretense *not said here* | the hare |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hare=Theme |
| 2 | **steal** | past | the man | hare |  | the pretense |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cat made a pretense of being asleep.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pretense:x3:1
# text = The cat made a pretense of being asleep.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	pretense	pretense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
8	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the cat | a pretense |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pretense=Product |
| 2 | **is** | gerund | a pretense *not said here* |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | tree rules |

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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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