---
title: whet — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «whet» in the school dictionary: To whet is to sharpen a blade by rubbing it on a stone. 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/W/whet/)

<!-- 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/) / [W](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/) / whet

# whet

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** He, smell, you · **What happens:** whet, be, rub · **To what, where:** blade, stone, appetite, knife, great stone

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

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To whet is to sharpen a blade by rubbing it on a stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whet:m1:1
# text = To whet is to sharpen a blade by rubbing it on a stone.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	whet	whet	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
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	sharpen	sharpen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	blade	blade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	rubbing	rub	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whet** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | sharpen *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **rub** | gerund |  | blade |  | a stone |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme on stone=Destination |

<!-- .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 whet an appetite is to make it stronger.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whet:m2:1
# text = To whet an appetite is to make it stronger.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	whet	whet	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	appetite	appetite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whet** | to-infinitive |  | a appetite |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | make, strong *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He whetted the knife on a great stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whet:x1:1
# text = He whetted the knife on a great stone.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	whetted	whet	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	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	stone	stone	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 | **whet** | past | He | the knife |  | a great stone |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The smell whetted my appetite.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whet:x2:1
# text = The smell whetted my appetite.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	whetted	whet	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	appetite	appetite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whet** | past | the smell | my appetite |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whet the blade slowly and carefully.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whet:x3:1
# text = Whet the blade slowly and carefully.
1	Whet	whet	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	blade	blade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	carefully	carefully	ADV	RB	_	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whet** | imperative | you *not said here* | the blade |  |  |  | slowly *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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: [wherewithal](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wherewithal/)
- next →: [whey](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/whey/)
- ↑ back to [W in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/)