---
title: quail — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «quail» in the school dictionary: A quail is a small bird like a partridge, which people hunt for food. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# quail

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** quail, small bird, hunters, boy, you, soldiers · **What happens:** be, hunt, lose, shoot, quail, sight · **To what, where:** small bird, fear, courage, two quails, wolf, quail

<!-- .vabout -->
«quail» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 4 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: [quail in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/quail.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A quail is a small bird like a partridge, which people hunt for food.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:m1:1
# text = A quail is a small bird like a partridge, which people hunt for food.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	quail	quail	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	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	partridge	partridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
12	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	hunt	hunt	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a quail | a small bird |  |  |  | like a partridge | tree rules |
| 2 | **hunt** | present | a small bird |  |  |  |  | for food | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for food=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
To quail is to shrink back in fear, to lose courage.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:m2:1
# text = To quail is to shrink back in fear, to lose courage.
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	quail	quail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
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	shrink	shrink	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	back	back	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	lose	lose	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
12	courage	courage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  | fear |  | to quail; shrink *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lose** | to-infinitive |  | courage |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent courage=Eventuality |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hunters shot two quails for supper.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:x1:1
# text = The hunters shot two quails for supper.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shot	shoot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	quails	quail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	supper	supper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shoot** | past | the hunters | two quails |  |  |  | for supper | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quail=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The boy quailed at the sight of the wolf.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:x2:1
# text = The boy quailed at the sight of the wolf.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	quailed	quail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **quail** | past | the boy |  |  |  |  | at the sight of the wolf | vn flinch-40.5 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer at sight=Stimulus |
| 2 | **sight** |  |  | the wolf |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Do not quail; be brave.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:x3:1
# text = Do not quail; be brave.
1	Do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	quail	quail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	brave	brave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | imperative | you *not said here* | quail |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quail=Eventuality |
| 2 | **is** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | brave *property* | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The soldiers quailed before the giant.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:quail:x4:1
# text = The soldiers quailed before the giant.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	soldiers	soldier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	quailed	quail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	before	before	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	giant	giant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **quail** | past | the soldiers |  |  |  | before the giant |  | vn flinch-40.5 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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