---
title: totter — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «totter» in the school dictionary: To totter is to walk or stand unsteadily, as if about to fall over, because you are weak, old or tired. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# totter

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**Who acts:** you, old man, tired dancers, He · **What happens:** be, stand, fall over, begin, totter · **To what, where:** baby, room, end, stairs

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«totter» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 4 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: [totter in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/totter.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To totter is to walk or stand unsteadily, as if about to fall over, because you are weak, old or tired.

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:totter:m1:1
# text = To totter is to walk or stand unsteadily, as if about to fall over, because you are weak, old or tired.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	totter	totter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	advcl	_	_
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	walk	walk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	stand	stand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	unsteadily	unsteadily	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	about	about	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
15	over	over	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
22	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	conj	_	_
23	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
24	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | walk *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | unsteadily *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **fall over** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | about, over *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | present | you |  |  |  |  | weak *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** |  | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **be** |  | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man began to totter.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:totter:x1:1
# text = The old man began to totter.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	totter	totter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **totter** | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The baby tottered across the room on wobbly legs.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:totter:x2:1
# text = The baby tottered across the room on wobbly legs.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	tottered	totter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	across	across	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	wobbly	wobbly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **totter** | participle |  | the baby *not said here* |  | the room on wobbly legs |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across room=Trajectory |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tired dancers tottered at the end.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:totter:x3:1
# text = The tired dancers tottered at the end.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dancers	dancer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tottered	totter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **totter** | past | the tired dancers |  |  |  | at the end |  | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at end=Location |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He tottered down the stairs after the shock.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:totter:x4:1
# text = He tottered down the stairs after the shock.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tottered	totter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	down	down	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shock	shock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **totter** | past | He |  |  | the stairs | after the shock |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme down stair=Trajectory |

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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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