---
title: retrospect — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «retrospect» in the school dictionary: «In retrospect»: when you think about something afterwards, looking back on it, often seeing it differently. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# retrospect

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** you, retrospect, plan, adventures, Toad, test · **What happens:** think, look back, see, be, leave, seem · **To what, where:** retrospect, mistake, coat, home, war, best day

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«In retrospect»: when you think about something afterwards, looking back on it, often seeing it differently.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:m1:1
# text = «In retrospect»: when you think about something afterwards, looking back on it, often seeing it differently.
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obl	_	_
11	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	parataxis	_	_
14	back	back	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	often	often	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	conj	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	differently	differently	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | you |  |  |  |  | about something; afterwards *property* | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about something=Topic |
| 2 | **look back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | on retrospect | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on it=Theme |
| 3 | **see** | gerund |  | retrospect |  |  |  | differently, often *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
In retrospect, it was a mistake to leave my coat at home.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x1:1
# text = In retrospect, it was a mistake to leave my coat at home.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mistake	mistake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	coat	coat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | retrospect | a mistake |  | retrospect |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **leave** | to-infinitive |  | my coat |  | home |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent coat=Theme at home=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In retrospect, the plan was too risky.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x2:1
# text = In retrospect, the plan was too risky.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	risky	risky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad's adventures seemed funny only in retrospect.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x3:1
# text = Toad's adventures seemed funny only in retrospect.
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	adventures	adventure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | past | Toad's adventures |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **adventure** |  | Toad |  |  |  |  |  | nom adventure «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back in retrospect, the war could have been avoided.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x4:1
# text = Looking back in retrospect, the war could have been avoided.
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
2	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux	_	_
10	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	avoided	avoid	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | in retrospect | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in retrospect=Theme |
| 2 | **avoid** | could · perfect · passive |  | the war |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: subject=Location |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In retrospect, the test was easier than I thought.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x5:1
# text = In retrospect, the test was easier than I thought.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
8	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the test |  |  | retrospect |  | easy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The trip, in retrospect, was the best day of the year.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:retrospect:x6:1
# text = The trip, in retrospect, was the best day of the year.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	retrospect	retrospect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the trip and retrospect | the best day |  |  | year |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
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