---
title: tragedy — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «tragedy» in the school dictionary: A tragedy is a very sad event that causes great suffering, damage or death, like a terrible accident or disaster. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# tragedy

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** tragedy, sad event, story, main character, sinking, Titanic · **What happens:** be, cause, end, die, use, seem · **To what, where:** sad event, great suffering, serious play, Tragedy, ice cream, great tragedy

<!-- .vabout -->
«tragedy» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 7 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: [tragedy in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tragedy.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A tragedy is a very sad event that causes great suffering, damage or death, like a terrible accident or disaster.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:m1:1
# text = A tragedy is a very sad event that causes great suffering, damage or death, like a terrible accident or disaster.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tragedy	tragedy	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	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	causes	cause	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	suffering	suffering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	damage	damage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	like	like	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	terrible	terrible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	accident	accident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
21	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	disaster	disaster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a tragedy | a sad event |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cause** | present | a sad event | great suffering and damage or death and a terrible accident or disaster |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition suffering=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
A tragedy is a serious play or story that ends sadly, often with the death of the main character, as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

<!-- fold The tree, 26 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:m2:1
# text = A tragedy is a serious play or story that ends sadly, often with the death of the main character, as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	ends	end	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	sadly	sadly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	often	often	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	main	main	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	as	as	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	Shakespeare	Shakespeare	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	's	's	PART	POS	_	24	case	_	_
26	Romeo	Romeo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	Juliet	Juliet	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a tragedy | a serious play or story and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **end** | present | story |  |  |  |  | sadly *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **die** |  | the main character |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tragedy can be used jokingly for something small that seems sad, like dropping your ice cream.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:m3:1
# text = Tragedy can be used jokingly for something small that seems sad, like dropping your ice cream.
1	Tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	jokingly	jokingly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	obl	_	_
8	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
11	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	dropping	drop	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	_
15	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
16	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | can · passive |  | Tragedy |  |  |  | for something; jokingly *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for something=Eventuality |
| 2 | **seem** | present |  |  |  |  |  | sad *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 3 | **drop** | gerund |  | your ice cream |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cream=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sinking of the Titanic was a great tragedy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x1:1
# text = The sinking of the Titanic was a great tragedy.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sinking	sinking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Titanic	Titanic	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the sinking of the Titanic | a great tragedy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sink** |  | the Titanic |  |  |  |  |  | nom sinking «event intransitive»: of=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The town held a minute's silence after the tragedy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x2:1
# text = The town held a minute's silence after the tragedy.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	minute	minute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	after	after	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | past | the town | a minute's silence |  |  | after the tragedy |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent silence=Theme |
| 2 | **silence** |  | a minute |  |  |  |  |  | nom silence «state transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x3:1
# text = Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies.
1	Romeo	Romeo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	Juliet	Juliet	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
7	Shakespeare	Shakespeare	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	10	advmod	_	_
10	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	tragedies	tragedy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Romeo and Juliet | one |  |  |  | of Shakespeare's famous tragedies | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tragedy struck when the bridge collapsed.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x4:1
# text = Tragedy struck when the bridge collapsed.
1	Tragedy	Tragedy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	6	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	collapsed	collapse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | Tragedy |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location |
| 2 | **collapse** | past | the bridge |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The day out ended in tragedy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x5:1
# text = The day out ended in tragedy.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
3	out	out	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	ended	end	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **end** | past |  |  |  | tragedy | day | out *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I dropped my ice cream — what a tragedy! (joking)

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* I dropped my ice cream — what a tragedy!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x6:1
# text = I dropped my ice cream — what a tragedy!
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	cream	cream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	parataxis	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drop** | past | I | my ice cream |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cream=Theme |

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

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x6:2
# text = (joking)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	joking	joke	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **joke** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And then one night came the tragedy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:tragedy:x7:1
# text = And then one night came the tragedy.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | one night | the tragedy |  |  | then |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location tragedy=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

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