---
title: subtle — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «subtle» in the school dictionary: Subtle means very small, delicate or hard to notice. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# subtle

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**Who acts:** Subtle, hare, subtle smell, smoke, smile, I · **What happens:** mean, notice, think, be, smell, miss · **To what, where:** small, smile

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«subtle» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings 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: [subtle in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/subtle.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Subtle means very small, delicate or hard to notice.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:subtle:m1:1
# text = Subtle means very small, delicate or hard to notice.
1	Subtle	subtle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	delicate	delicate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	notice	notice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Subtle | small |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent small=Topic |
| 2 | **notice** | to-infinitive | Subtle *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Subtle means clever in a quiet, sly way, good at thinking of tricks.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:subtle:m2:1
# text = Subtle means clever in a quiet, sly way, good at thinking of tricks.
1	Subtle	subtle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
6	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	sly	sly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
12	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	thinking	think	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	tricks	trick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Subtle |  |  |  |  | in a quiet sly way; clever *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot in way=Attribute |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | gerund | Subtle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of tricks | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hare was subtle and clever.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:subtle:x1:1
# text = The hare was subtle and clever.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	subtle	subtle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the hare |  |  |  |  | subtle *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There was a subtle smell of smoke.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:subtle:x2:1
# text = There was a subtle smell of smoke.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	subtle	subtle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	smoke	smoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | a subtle smell of smoke |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **smell** |  | smoke |  |  |  |  |  | nom smell «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her smile was so subtle that I almost missed it.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:subtle:x3:1
# text = Her smile was so subtle that I almost missed it.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	subtle	subtle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	missed	miss	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Her smile |  |  |  |  | subtle *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **miss** | past | I | smile |  |  |  | almost *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 3 | **smile** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom smile «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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