---
title: tamper — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «tamper» in the school dictionary: To tamper with a thing is to meddle with it or change it without permission, often so that it no longer works properly. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# tamper

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**Who acts:** tamper, you, Someone, clock, fox, baker · **What happens:** be, change, work, influence, do, tamper · **To what, where:** tamper, them, secret

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To tamper with a thing is to meddle with it or change it without permission, often so that it no longer works properly.

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tamper:m1:1
# text = To tamper with a thing is to meddle with it or change it without permission, often so that it no longer works properly.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	tamper	tamper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	meddle	meddle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	without	without	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	permission	permission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
17	often	often	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
18	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	23	mark	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	fixed	_	_
20	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
21	no	no	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	23	advmod	_	_
23	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
24	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | tamper with a thing |  |  |  |  | with thing; meddle *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **change** | infinitive | tamper with a thing *not said here* | tamper |  |  |  | without permission | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 3 | **work** | present | tamper |  |  |  |  | long, often, properly *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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: old use — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To tamper with someone is to try to influence them in a secret or bad way.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tamper:m2:1
# text = To tamper with someone is to try to influence them in a secret or bad way.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	tamper	tamper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	with	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	influence	influence	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | tamper with someone |  |  |  |  | try *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **influence** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | tamper with someone *not said here* | them *= they* |  | a secret or bad way |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Do not tamper with the lock.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tamper:x1:1
# text = Do not tamper with the lock.
1	Do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	tamper	tamper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	lock	lock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | imperative | you *not said here* | tamper |  |  |  | with the lock | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tamper=Eventuality |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Someone had tampered with the clock, so it showed the wrong time.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tamper:x2:1
# text = Someone had tampered with the clock, so it showed the wrong time.
1	Someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	tampered	tamper	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	clock	clock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tamper** | past · perfect | Someone |  |  |  |  | with the clock | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | past | clock |  |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fox tried to tamper with the baker's letters.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tamper:x3:1
# text = The fox tried to tamper with the baker's letters.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fox	fox	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	tamper	tamper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	baker	baker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the fox | tamper |  |  |  | with the baker's letters | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP PP.theme PP.attribute»: agent=Agent tamper=Patient with letter=Theme |
| 2 | **letter** |  | the baker |  |  |  |  |  | nom letter «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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