---
title: retrace — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «retrace» in the school dictionary: To retrace your steps is to go back along the same way you came. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# retrace

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**Who acts:** you, your, We, our, Peddler, They · **What happens:** retrace, be, come, step · **To what, where:** steps, same way

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To retrace your steps is to go back along the same way you came.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrace:m1:1
# text = To retrace your steps is to go back along the same way you came.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	retrace	retrace	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	back	back	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	along	along	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retrace** | to-infinitive |  | your steps |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | along the same way; go *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **come** | past | you | the same way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location way=Theme |
| 4 | **step** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom step «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We must retrace our steps.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrace:x1:1
# text = We must retrace our steps.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	retrace	retrace	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retrace** | must | We | our steps |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **step** |  | our |  |  |  |  |  | nom step «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Peddler retraced his steps to the town.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrace:x2:1
# text = The Peddler retraced his steps to the town.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Peddler	Peddler	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	retraced	retrace	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	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retrace** | past | the Peddler | Peddler's steps |  |  |  | to the town | tree rules |
| 2 | **step** |  | Peddler |  |  |  |  |  | nom step «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They retraced their steps to the hut.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrace:x3:1
# text = They retraced their steps to the hut.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	retraced	retrace	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hut	hut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **retrace** | past | They | their steps |  |  |  | to the hut | tree rules |
| 2 | **step** |  | their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom step «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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