---
title: surmount — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «surmount» in the school dictionary: To surmount is to get over or climb over something hard. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# surmount

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** horse, She, her, They · **What happens:** surmount, be, climb, try, fear · **To what, where:** something, wall, fear, dark, problem, way

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To surmount is to get over or climb over something hard.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:m1:1
# text = To surmount is to get over or climb over something hard.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	surmount	surmount	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	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	over	over	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	climb	climb	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
9	over	over	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obl	_	_
11	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surmount** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | get, over *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **climb** | infinitive |  |  |  | something |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over something=Trajectory |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To surmount is to overcome a problem or difficulty. (formal, old use).

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* To surmount is to overcome a problem or difficulty.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:m2:1
# text = To surmount is to overcome a problem or difficulty.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	surmount	surmount	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	overcome	overcome	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surmount** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | overcome *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* (formal, old use).

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:m2:2
# text = (formal, old use).
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The horse tried to surmount the wall.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:x1:1
# text = The horse tried to surmount the wall.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	surmount	surmount	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the horse |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **surmount** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the horse *not said here* | the wall |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme wall=Co-Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She surmounted her fear of the dark.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:x2:1
# text = She surmounted her fear of the dark.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	surmounted	surmount	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dark	dark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surmount** | past | She | her fear of the dark |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme fear=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **fear** |  | her *= she* | the dark |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They surmounted every problem on the way.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:surmount:x3:1
# text = They surmounted every problem on the way.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	surmounted	surmount	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surmount** | past | They | every problem |  | the way |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme problem=Co-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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