---
title: speculate — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «speculate» in the school dictionary: To guess or form ideas about something when you don't have all the facts. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# speculate

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** you, currencies, risk, Scientists, Newspapers, singer · **What happens:** guess, form, not have, buy, hope, sell · **To what, where:** ideas, facts, things, money, planet, water

<!-- .vabout -->
«speculate» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 7 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: [speculate in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/speculate.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To guess or form ideas about something when you don't have all the facts.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:m1:1
# text = To guess or form ideas about something when you don't have all the facts.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	guess	guess	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	form	form	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
5	ideas	idea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obl	_	_
8	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	12	mark	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
13	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	15	det:predet	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guess** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **form** | infinitive |  | ideas |  |  |  | about something | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location idea=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **have** | present · do-support | you | all facts |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fact=Patient |

<!-- .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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: money — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To buy things like shares, land or currencies hoping to sell them later for more, with a risk of losing money.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:m2:1
# text = To buy things like shares, land or currencies hoping to sell them later for more, with a risk of losing money.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	buy	buy	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	shares	share	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	currencies	currency	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
10	hoping	hope	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	sell	sell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	12	advmod	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	risk	risk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
21	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
22	losing	lose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	20	acl	_	_
23	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **buy** | to-infinitive |  | things |  |  |  | like shares and land or currencies; with a risk | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Theme |
| 2 | **hope** | gerund | currencies *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **sell** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | currencies *not said here* | things *= thing* |  |  |  | for more; late *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent they=Theme for more=Asset |
| 4 | **lose** | gerund | a risk *not said here* | money |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent money=Eventuality |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scientists speculate that there might be water on that planet.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x1:1
# text = Scientists speculate that there might be water on that planet.
1	Scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	speculate	speculate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	6	expl	_	_
5	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	advcl	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	planet	planet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speculate** | present | Scientists |  |  | that planet |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | infinitive | Scientists *not said here* | water |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone speculated about who the new teacher would be.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x2:1
# text = Everyone speculated about who the new teacher would be.
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	0	root	_	_
2	speculated	speculate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	2	obl:agent	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speculate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't speculate — read the text and find the answer.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x3:1
# text = Don't speculate — read the text and find the answer.
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	speculate	speculate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
5	read	read	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **speculate** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **read** | past |  | the text |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent text=Topic |
| 3 | **find** | infinitive |  | the answer |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Topic |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Newspapers speculated about why the singer quit.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x4:1
# text = Newspapers speculated about why the singer quit.
1	Newspapers	newspaper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	speculated	speculate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	singer	singer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	quit	quit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speculate** | past | Newspapers |  |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **quit** | past | the singer |  |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People who speculate on shares can win or lose a lot of money.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x5:1
# text = People who speculate on shares can win or lose a lot of money.
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	speculate	speculate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	shares	share	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	win	win	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speculate** | present | People |  |  | shares |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **win** | can | People |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **lose** | infinitive | People *not said here* | a lot of money |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Eventuality |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We can only speculate about how the Stone Age people moved the stones.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x6:1
# text = We can only speculate about how the Stone Age people moved the stones.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	speculate	speculate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	Stone	Stone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	Age	Age	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	moved	move	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speculate** | can | We |  |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **move** | past | the Age people | the stones |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent stone=Theme |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I will be an architect, which will place me among those who possess riches and intellect, and who speculate in art.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:speculate:x7:1
# text = I will be an architect, which will place me among those who possess riches and intellect, and who speculate in art.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	architect	architect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
10	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	goeswith	_	_
11	among	among	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	9	nmod	_	_
13	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl:relcl	_	_
15	riches	rich	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	intellect	intellect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
20	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	21	nsubj	_	_
21	speculate	speculate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	art	art	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | future | I | a architect |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **place** | future | a architect |  |  |  |  | among those | tree rules |
| 3 | **possess** | present |  | riches and intellect |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot rich=Theme |
| 4 | **speculate** | present | a architect |  |  | art |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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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