---
title: sputter — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «sputter» in the school dictionary: To sputter is to make short, hissing or spitting noises, as a fire or a match does when it burns. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# sputter

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**Who acts:** hissing, match, She, it, tree · **What happens:** sputter, be, hiss, spit, do, burn · **To what, where:** noises, one

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«sputter» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 2 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: [sputter in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/sputter.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To sputter is to make short, hissing or spitting noises, as a fire or a match does when it burns.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sputter:m1:1
# text = To sputter is to make short, hissing or spitting noises, as a fire or a match does when it burns.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	sputter	sputter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	hissing	hiss	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	csubj	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	spitting	spit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	conj	_	_
11	noises	noise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	match	match	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
19	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
20	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	22	mark	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	burns	burn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sputter** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | make, short *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **hiss** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **spit** | gerund |  | noises |  |  |  | as a fire or a match | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent noise=Theme |
| 5 | **do** | present | hissing |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **burn** | present | match |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «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 -->
She struck one, and it sputtered as it burnt.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sputter:x1:1
# text = She struck one, and it sputtered as it burnt.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	sputtered	sputter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
10	burnt	burnt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | She | one |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient |
| 2 | **sputter** | past | it |  |  |  |  | as it; burnt *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tree began to sputter and burn like a candle.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:sputter:x2:1
# text = The tree began to sputter and burn like a candle.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	sputter	sputter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	burn	burn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	candle	candle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | the tree |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **sputter** | to-infinitive | the tree *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **burn** | infinitive | the tree *not said here* |  |  |  |  | like a candle | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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