---
title: pry — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «pry» in the school dictionary: To pry is to force something open or up with a tool, or to ask questions about things that are none of your business. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# pry

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** that, He, you, my, men · **What happens:** pry, be, ask, try, not pry, letter · **To what, where:** questions, none, lid, box, letters, stone

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To pry is to force something open or up with a tool, or to ask questions about things that are none of your business.

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pry:m1:1
# text = To pry is to force something open or up with a tool, or to ask questions about things that are none of your business.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	pry	pry	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	force	force	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	up	up	ADV	RB	_	7	conj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tool	tool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
17	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
18	about	about	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
20	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	22	nsubj	_	_
21	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
22	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	19	appos	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	business	business	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pry** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with a tool; force *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive |  | questions |  |  |  | about things | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP PP.topic»: agent=Agent question=Recipient about thing=Topic |
| 4 | **is a** | present | that | none |  |  |  | of your business | 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 tried to pry the lid off the box with a spoon.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pry:x1:1
# text = He tried to pry the lid off the box with a spoon.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	pry	pry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lid	lid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	off	off	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	spoon	spoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **pry** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | the lid |  | the box with a spoon |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent lid=Theme off box=Initial\_Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Please do not pry into my letters.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pry:x2:1
# text = Please do not pry into my letters.
1	Please	please	INTJ	UH	_	4	discourse	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	pry	pry	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **pry** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* |  |  | my letters |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **letter** |  | my |  |  |  |  |  | nom letter «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The men pried the stone from the ground.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:pry:x3:1
# text = The men pried the stone from the ground.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pried	pry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ground	ground	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 | **pry** | past | the men | the stone |  | the ground |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent stone=Theme from ground=Initial\_Location |

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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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