---
title: taper — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «taper» in the school dictionary: A taper is a long thin candle, used for lighting other candles or lamps. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# taper

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**Who acts:** taper, She · **What happens:** be, use, light, flicker · **To what, where:** long thin candle, other candles, dark hall, tapers, table

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A taper is a long thin candle, used for lighting other candles or lamps.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:taper:m1:1
# text = A taper is a long thin candle, used for lighting other candles or lamps.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	taper	taper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	candle	candle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
10	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	lighting	light	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
12	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	candles	candle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	lamps	lamp	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a taper | a long thin candle |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | participle |  | a long thin candle *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **light** | gerund |  | other candles or lamps |  |  |  |  | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent candle=Product |

<!-- .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 taper is to become gradually narrower towards one end, like a pointed pencil.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:taper:m2:1
# text = To taper is to become gradually narrower towards one end, like a pointed pencil.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	taper	taper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
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	become	become	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	gradually	gradually	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	narrower	narrow	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	xcomp	_	_
8	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	like	like	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	pointed	pointed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	pencil	pencil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | taper |  |  |  |  | become, narrow *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The taper flickered in the dark hall.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:taper:x1:1
# text = The taper flickered in the dark hall.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	taper	taper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	flickered	flicker	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flicker** | past | the taper |  |  | the dark hall |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in hall=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She lit the tapers on the table.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:taper:x2:1
# text = She lit the tapers on the table.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lit	light	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	tapers	taper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	table	table	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 | **light** | past | She | the tapers |  | the table |  |  | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent taper=Product |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tower tapers to a point at the top.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:taper:x3:1
# text = The tower tapers to a point at the top.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	tapers	taper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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