---
title: ref — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «ref» in the school dictionary: A ref is a referee, the official who makes sure players follow the rules in games like football, rugby, boxing and basketball. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/ref/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [R](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/) / ref

# ref

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** ref, players, referee, reference, person, That · **What happens:** be, make, follow, ref, mean, referee · **To what, where:** referee, rules, games, game, short form, number · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«ref» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 6 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: [ref in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/ref.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: informal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ref is a referee, the official who makes sure players follow the rules in games like football, rugby, boxing and basketball.

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:m1:1
# text = A ref is a referee, the official who makes sure players follow the rules in games like football, rugby, boxing and basketball.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	referee	referee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	official	official	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	appos	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
11	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
12	players	player	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	follow	follow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	games	game	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
18	like	like	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	football	football	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	rugby	rugby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	boxing	boxing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	basketball	basketball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a ref | a referee |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | present |  |  |  |  |  | sure *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **follow** | present | players | the rules |  | games like football and rugby and boxing and basketball |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent rule=Theme in game=Trajectory |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: informal, verb — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To ref a game means to referee it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:m2:1
# text = To ref a game means to referee it.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ref	ref	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	referee	referee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ref** | to-infinitive |  | a game |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **referee** |  | referee |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ref is a short form of reference: a number or code used to find a letter, order or document ("Ref: 4471"), or a reference that says what a person is like.

<!-- fold The tree, 31 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:m3:1
# text = Ref is a short form of reference: a number or code used to find a letter, order or document ("Ref: 4471"), or a reference that says what a person is like.
1	Ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	code	code	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
13	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	document	document	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	_
22	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	Ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	26	punct	_	_
26	4471	4471	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	24	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
30	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
31	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	_
33	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	34	nsubj	_	_
34	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	acl:relcl	_	_
35	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	39	obj	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	nsubj	_	_
38	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	39	cop	_	_
39	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Ref | a short form and a number or code |  |  |  | of reference | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | participle |  | a number or code *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **find** | to-infinitive |  | a letter and order or document |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Topic |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a reference |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | present | a person |  |  |  |  | like *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ref blew his whistle for half-time.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x1:1
# text = The ref blew his whistle for half-time.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	blew	blow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	whistle	whistle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blow** | past | the ref | ref's whistle |  |  | time |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent whistle=Patient |
| 2 | **whistle** |  | ref |  |  |  |  |  | nom whistle «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"That was a foul, ref!"

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x2:1
# text = "That was a foul, ref!"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	foul	foul	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | That | a foul and ref |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My dad refs our Saturday football games.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x3:1
# text = My dad refs our Saturday football games.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dad	dad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	refs	ref	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
5	Saturday	Saturday	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
6	football	football	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	games	game	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ref** | present | My dad | our Saturday football games |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Please quote our ref 5839 when you reply.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x4:1
# text = Please quote our ref 5839 when you reply.
1	Please	please	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
2	quote	quote	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	5839	5839	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	flat	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	reply	reply	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **quote** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | our ref |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ref=Topic |
| 2 | **reply** *speech: assert* | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ref gave him a yellow card.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x5:1
# text = The ref gave him a yellow card.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	yellow	yellow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	card	card	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | the ref | a yellow card | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient card=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I need a ref from my old teacher for the job.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:ref:x6:1
# text = I need a ref from my old teacher for the job.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ref	ref	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	job	job	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | I | a ref |  |  |  | from my old teacher; for the job | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot ref=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [reel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reel/)
- next →: [refectory](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/refectory/)
- ↑ back to [R in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/)