---
title: proverbial — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «proverbial» in the school dictionary: Proverbial means well known, the sort of thing people always mention, as if it were a saying or proverb. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# proverbial

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**Who acts:** Proverbial, people, thing, fox, noisy class, beauty · **What happens:** mean, know, mention, be, sort, have · **To what, where:** thing, saying, proverbial cunning, proverbial patience · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Proverbial means well known, the sort of thing people always mention, as if it were a saying or proverb.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:proverbial:m1:1
# text = Proverbial means well known, the sort of thing people always mention, as if it were a saying or proverb.
1	Proverbial	proverbial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
4	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sort	sort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
11	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	12	advmod	_	_
12	mention	mention	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
15	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
17	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	parataxis	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	proverb	proverb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Proverbial |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **know** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **mention** *speech: other* | present | people | thing *not said here* |  |  |  | always *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent thing=Topic |
| 4 | **is a** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | thing | a saying or proverb |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **sort** |  |  | thing |  |  |  |  | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The fox has a proverbial cunning.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:proverbial:x1:1
# text = The fox has a proverbial cunning.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	proverbial	proverbial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	cunning	cunning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the fox | a proverbial cunning |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cunning=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her proverbial patience was tested by the noisy class.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:proverbial:x2:1
# text = Her proverbial patience was tested by the noisy class.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	proverbial	proverbial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	patience	patience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	tested	test	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	noisy	noisy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **test** | past · passive | the noisy class | Her proverbial patience |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His beauty became proverbial in the land.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:proverbial:x3:1
# text = His beauty became proverbial in the land.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	beauty	beauty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	proverbial	proverbial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | past | His beauty |  |  |  |  | proverbial *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

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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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