---
title: shifty — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «shifty» in the school dictionary: Shifty means sly, not honest, and not to be trusted; a shifty person often looks away or hides what he is doing. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# shifty

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**Who acts:** Shifty, shifty person, person, shifty man, Shifty Lad, trick · **What happens:** mean, not trust, look away, hide, do, keep · **To what, where:** eyes, door, him, shifty look

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shifty means sly, not honest, and not to be trusted; a shifty person often looks away or hides what he is doing.

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:shifty:m1:1
# text = Shifty means sly, not honest, and not to be trusted; a shifty person often looks away or hides what he is doing.
1	Shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	sly	sly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	honest	honest	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	trusted	trust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	often	often	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
19	away	away	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	hides	hide	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
22	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	25	obj	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
24	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	21	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Shifty |  |  |  |  | honest, sly *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **trust** | to-infinitive · passive | Shifty *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S» |
| 3 | **look away** | present | a shifty person |  |  |  |  | away, often *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 4 | **hide** | present | a shifty person *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **do** | present · progressive | person |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
The shifty man kept his eyes on the door.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:shifty:x1:1
# text = The shifty man kept his eyes on the door.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past | the shifty man | man's eyes |  | the door |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent eye=Theme on door=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Shifty Lad jumped for joy when his trick worked.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:shifty:x2:1
# text = The Shifty Lad jumped for joy when his trick worked.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Lad	Lad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	jumped	jump	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	joy	joy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	worked	work	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **jump** | past | the Shifty Lad |  |  |  |  | for joy | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **work** | past | Lad's trick |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **trick** |  | Lad |  |  |  |  |  | nom trick «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't trust him; he has a shifty look.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:shifty:x3:1
# text = Don't trust him; he has a shifty look.
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	trust	trust	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	look	look	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **trust** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | present | he | a shifty look |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent look=Patient |

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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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