---
title: toughness — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «toughness» in the school dictionary: Toughness is being strong and hard to break, bend or damage. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughness/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [T](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/) / toughness

# toughness

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Toughness, your, material, Rubber boots, We, goalkeeper · **What happens:** be, break, bend, damage, put up, mind · **To what, where:** mind, much energy, toughness, mud, real toughness, steak

<!-- .vabout -->
«toughness» in the school dictionary: its 4 meanings for a pupil and its 6 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: [toughness in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/toughness.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toughness is being strong and hard to break, bend or damage.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:m1:1
# text = Toughness is being strong and hard to break, bend or damage.
1	Toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	bend	bend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	damage	damage	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Toughness |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **break** | to-infinitive | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **bend** | infinitive | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **damage** | infinitive | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: 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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toughness is being brave and strong in your mind, able to put up with pain or hard times.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:m2:1
# text = Toughness is being brave and strong in your mind, able to put up with pain or hard times.
1	Toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	brave	brave	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	up	up	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	pain	pain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Toughness |  |  |  |  | brave *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Toughness *not said here* |  |  | your mind |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **put up** | to-infinitive | Toughness *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with pain or hard times | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **mind** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toughness of meat or food is being hard to cut or chew.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:m3:1
# text = Toughness of meat or food is being hard to cut or chew.
1	Toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	cop	_	_
8	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	chew	chew	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Toughness of meat or food |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **cut** | to-infinitive | Toughness of meat or food *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **chew** | infinitive | Toughness of meat or food *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Meaning 4 {#m4}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: materials science — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toughness is how much energy a material can take before it breaks.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:m4:1
# text = Toughness is how much energy a material can take before it breaks.
1	Toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
4	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	energy	energy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	material	material	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	breaks	break	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Toughness | much energy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take** | can | a material | much energy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent energy=Theme |
| 3 | **break** | present | material |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rubber boots need toughness to survive the mud.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x1:1
# text = Rubber boots need toughness to survive the mud.
1	Rubber	rubber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	boots	boot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	survive	survive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Rubber boots | toughness |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **survive** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | toughness *not said here* | the mud |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme mud=Circumstance |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We tested the toughness of three kinds of paper.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x2:1
# text = We tested the toughness of three kinds of paper.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tested	test	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	kinds	kind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **test** | past | We | the toughness of three kinds of paper |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toughness=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The goalkeeper showed real toughness after the injury.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x3:1
# text = The goalkeeper showed real toughness after the injury.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	goalkeeper	goalkeeper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | past | the goalkeeper | real toughness |  |  | after the injury |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent toughness=Recipient |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The toughness of the steak made it hard to chew.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x4:1
# text = The toughness of the steak made it hard to chew.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	steak	steak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	chew	chew	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the toughness of the steak | steak |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |
| 2 | **chew** | to-infinitive | steak *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True toughness is staying calm when someone wants a fight.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x5:1
# text = True toughness is staying calm when someone wants a fight.
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	staying	stay	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	calm	calm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
7	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	nsubj	_	_
8	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stay** | present · progressive | True toughness |  |  |  |  | calm *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **want** | present | someone | a fight |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot fight=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Glass is hard but has little toughness, so it shatters.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:toughness:x6:1
# text = Glass is hard but has little toughness, so it shatters.
1	Glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	toughness	toughness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	shatters	shatter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Glass |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | Glass *not said here* | little toughness |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toughness=Patient |
| 3 | **shatter** | present | Glass |  |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [toughen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/toughen/)
- next →: [tour](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tour/)
- ↑ back to [T in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/)