---
title: relative — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «relative» in the school dictionary: A relative is a person in your family, like an aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# relative

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** relative, relative pronoun, We, aunt, Lions, ant · **What happens:** be, mean, compare, join, visit, come · **To what, where:** person, family, clause, relatives, Christmas, Canada · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«relative» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 8 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: [relative in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/relative.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A relative is a person in your family, like an aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:m1:1
# text = A relative is a person in your family, like an aunt, uncle, cousin or grandparent.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	relative	relative	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	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	aunt	aunt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	appos	_	_
17	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	grandparent	grandparent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a relative | a person and a aunt and uncle |  | your family |  |  | 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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
As an adjective, relative means compared with something else, like «relative size».

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:m2:1
# text = As an adjective, relative means compared with something else, like «relative size».
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	adjective	adjective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	relative	relative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	compared	compare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	ccomp	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obl	_	_
10	else	else	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	like	like	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | relative |  |  |  |  | as a adjective | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **compare** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with something | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Patient with something=Co-Patient |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In grammar, a relative pronoun (who, which, that) joins a clause to a noun.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:m3:1
# text = In grammar, a relative pronoun (who, which, that) joins a clause to a noun.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	grammar	grammar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pronoun	pronoun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	_
7	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	10	punct	_	_
14	joins	join	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	clause	clause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	noun	noun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **join** | present | a relative pronoun | a clause |  |  |  | to a noun | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent clause=Patient to noun=Co-Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We visited our relatives at Christmas.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x1:1
# text = We visited our relatives at Christmas.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	visited	visit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	relatives	relative	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | past | We | our relatives |  | Christmas |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relative=Co-Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My aunt is my closest relative in Canada.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x2:1
# text = My aunt is my closest relative in Canada.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	aunt	aunt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	closest	close	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Canada	Canada	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | My aunt |  |  | Canada |  | relative *property* | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lions and house cats are distant relatives.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x3:1
# text = Lions and house cats are distant relatives.
1	Lions	lion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	distant	distant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	relatives	relative	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Lions and house cats | distant relatives |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ant is tiny relative to the elephant.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x4:1
# text = The ant is tiny relative to the elephant.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ant	ant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	relative	relative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	elephant	elephant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the ant | tiny relative |  |  |  | to the elephant | tree rules |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Who» is a relative pronoun.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x5:1
# text = «Who» is a relative pronoun.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	relative	relative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	pronoun	pronoun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a relative pronoun |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many relatives came to the wedding.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x6:1
# text = Many relatives came to the wedding.
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	relatives	relative	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	wedding	wedding	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 | **come** | past | Many relatives |  |  | the wedding |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to wedding=Initial\_Location |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The test was relatively easy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x7:1
# text = The test was relatively easy.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	relatively	relatively	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the test |  |  |  |  | easy, relatively *property* | tree rules |

## Example 8 {#x8}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:relative:x8:1
# text = A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Town	town	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	advmod	_	_
5	visited	visit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	relative	relative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | past | a Town Mouse | a relative |  |  |  | once *property* | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relative=Co-Agent |
| 2 | **live** | past | a relative |  |  | the country |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in country=Location |

<!-- 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 -->

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