---
title: tinderbox — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «tinderbox» in the school dictionary: A tinderbox is an old box holding tinder, flint and steel, used to light fires. (old use). Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# tinderbox

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**Who acts:** tinderbox, old box, Hallo, this, He, Lighting · **What happens:** be, hold, use, say, strike, light · **To what, where:** old box, tinder, soldier, pleasant tinderbox, spark, tinderbox · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«tinderbox» in the school dictionary: its meaning 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: [tinderbox in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tinderbox.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A tinderbox is an old box holding tinder, flint and steel, used to light fires. (old use).

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A tinderbox is an old box holding tinder, flint and steel, used to light fires.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tinderbox:m1:1
# text = A tinderbox is an old box holding tinder, flint and steel, used to light fires.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tinderbox	tinderbox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	holding	hold	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	tinder	tinder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	flint	flint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	parataxis	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	fires	fire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a tinderbox | a old box |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hold** | gerund | a old box *not said here* | tinder and flint and steel |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tinder=Theme |
| 3 | **use** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «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.

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

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tinderbox:m1:2
# text = (old use).
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hallo, said the soldier, this is a pleasant tinderbox!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tinderbox:x1:1
# text = Hallo, said the soldier, this is a pleasant tinderbox!
1	Hallo	Hallo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	soldier	soldier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	pleasant	pleasant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	tinderbox	tinderbox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Hallo | the soldier |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent soldier=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** | present | this | a pleasant tinderbox |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He struck a spark from the tinderbox.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tinderbox:x2:1
# text = He struck a spark from the tinderbox.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	spark	spark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tinderbox	tinderbox	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 | **strike** | past | He | a spark |  | the tinderbox |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spark=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lighting a candle with a tinderbox took ages.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tinderbox:x3:1
# text = Lighting a candle with a tinderbox took ages.
1	Lighting	light	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	candle	candle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tinderbox	tinderbox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	ages	age	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **light** | gerund |  | a candle |  |  |  | with a tinderbox | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent candle=Product with tinderbox=Material |
| 2 | **take** | past | Lighting | ages |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent age=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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