---
title: sorcery — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «sorcery» in the school dictionary: Sorcery is the use of magic spells and powers to make strange things happen. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# sorcery

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**Who acts:** Sorcery, strange things, old witch, villagers, one · **What happens:** be, make, happen, use, hide, fear · **To what, where:** use, sorcery, castle, stone, gold

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sorcery is the use of magic spells and powers to make strange things happen.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sorcery:m1:1
# text = Sorcery is the use of magic spells and powers to make strange things happen.
1	Sorcery	sorcery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	magic	magic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	spells	spell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	powers	power	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
12	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	happen	happen	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Sorcery | the use |  |  |  | of magic spells and powers | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | Sorcery *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **happen** | present | strange things |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 old witch used her sorcery to hide the castle.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sorcery:x1:1
# text = The old witch used her sorcery to hide the castle.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	sorcery	sorcery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	hide	hide	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | the old witch | witch's sorcery |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sorcery=Patient |
| 2 | **hide** | to-infinitive | the old witch *not said here* | the castle |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent castle=Patient |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The villagers feared the stranger's sorcery.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sorcery:x2:1
# text = The villagers feared the stranger's sorcery.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	villagers	villager	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	sorcery	sorcery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | past | the villagers | the stranger's sorcery |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sorcery=Stimulus |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No one could explain the sorcery that turned the stone to gold.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sorcery:x3:1
# text = No one could explain the sorcery that turned the stone to gold.
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	explain	explain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sorcery	sorcery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | could | no one | the sorcery |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sorcery=Topic |
| 2 | **turn** | past | the sorcery | the stone |  | gold |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent stone=Theme to gold=Trajectory |

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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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