---
title: referral — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «referral» in the school dictionary: A referral is the act of sending someone to another person or place that can help them better, especially from a family doctor to a specialist. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# referral

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** referral, act, that, letter, doctor, We · **What happens:** be, send, help, do, give, wait · **To what, where:** act, someone, person, family doctor, letter, this

<!-- .vabout -->
«referral» 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: [referral in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/referral.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A referral is the act of sending someone to another person or place that can help them better, especially from a family doctor to a specialist.

<!-- fold The tree, 26 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:m1:1
# text = A referral is the act of sending someone to another person or place that can help them better, especially from a family doctor to a specialist.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	act	act	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	sending	send	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
8	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
15	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
17	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	16	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	especially	especially	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
21	from	from	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	compound	_	_
24	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
25	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	specialist	specialist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a referral | the act |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **send** | gerund | the act *not said here* | someone | another person or place |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent someone=Theme to person=Destination |
| 3 | **help** | can | that | person |  | a family doctor to a specialist |  | good *property* | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
A referral is also the letter or note that does this.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:m2:1
# text = A referral is also the letter or note that does this.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	also	also	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	note	note	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a referral | the letter or note |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | present | the letter or note | this |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent this=Eventuality |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A referral is when a customer recommends a shop or service to someone else, sometimes for a reward.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:m3:1
# text = A referral is when a customer recommends a shop or service to someone else, sometimes for a reward.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	customer	customer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	recommends	recommend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	service	service	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obl	_	_
14	else	else	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	19	advmod	_	_
17	for	for	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	reward	reward	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a referral |  |  |  |  | to someone; for a reward; recommend *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The doctor gave my brother a referral to an eye specialist.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x1:1
# text = The doctor gave my brother a referral to an eye specialist.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	iobj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	specialist	specialist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | the doctor | a referral | my brother |  |  | to a eye specialist | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent brother=Recipient referral=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We are waiting for a referral letter from the hospital.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x2:1
# text = We are waiting for a referral letter from the hospital.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	hospital	hospital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | present · progressive | We |  |  |  |  | for a referral letter from the hospital | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My teacher made a referral to the speech therapist.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x3:1
# text = My teacher made a referral to the speech therapist.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	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	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	therapist	therapist	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 | **make** | past | My teacher | a referral |  |  |  | to the speech therapist | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent referral=Product |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The dentist sent a referral to the orthodontist about my teeth.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x4:1
# text = The dentist sent a referral to the orthodontist about my teeth.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dentist	dentist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sent	send	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	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	orthodontist	orthodontist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	about	about	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past | the dentist | a referral |  | the orthodontist |  | about my teeth | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent referral=Theme to orthodontist=Destination |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gym gives you a free month for every referral.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x5:1
# text = The gym gives you a free month for every referral.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gym	gym	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	referral	referral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present | the gym |  | you |  | month |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Most of the shop's new customers come from referrals.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:referral:x6:1
# text = Most of the shop's new customers come from referrals.
1	Most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	customers	customer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
8	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	referrals	referral	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | Most of the shop's new customers |  |  | referrals |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from referral=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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