---
title: retainer — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «retainer» in the school dictionary: A retainer is an old word for a servant or follower who serves a lord or noble family. (old use). Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# retainer

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** retainer, follower, retainers, special retainers · **What happens:** be, serve, go out, bring, carry · **To what, where:** old word, lord, impostor, bear, sword

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A retainer is an old word for a servant or follower who serves a lord or noble family. (old use).

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A retainer is an old word for a servant or follower who serves a lord or noble family.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retainer:m1:1
# text = A retainer is an old word for a servant or follower who serves a lord or noble family.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	retainer	retainer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	follower	follower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	serves	serve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	lord	lord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	noble	noble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a retainer | a old word |  |  |  | for a servant or follower | tree rules |
| 2 | **serve** | present | follower | a lord or noble family |  |  |  |  | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lord=Attribute |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* (old use).

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retainer:m1:2
# text = (old use).
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The retainers went out and brought the impostor before their lord.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retainer:x1:1
# text = The retainers went out and brought the impostor before their lord.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	retainers	retainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	impostor	impostor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	before	before	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	lord	lord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go out** | past | the retainers |  |  |  |  | out *property* | vn interact-36.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **bring** | past | the retainers *not said here* | the impostor |  |  | before retainers's lord |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent impostor=Theme before lord=Destination |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His special retainers were the bear, the deer and the hare.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retainer:x2:1
# text = His special retainers were the bear, the deer and the hare.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	retainers	retainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bear	bear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	deer	deer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | His special retainers | the bear and the deer and the hare |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The lady's retainers carried her sword.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retainer:x3:1
# text = The lady's retainers carried her sword.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	retainers	retainer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	carried	carry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** | past | the lady's retainers | her sword |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sword=Theme |

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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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