---
title: whittle — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «whittle» in the school dictionary: To whittle is to cut small thin pieces off wood with a knife until it takes a shape. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# whittle

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**Who acts:** it, old man, She, He · **What happens:** whittle, be, take, sit · **To what, where:** shape, small wooden horse, long point, stick, spoon

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«whittle» 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: [whittle in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/whittle.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To whittle is to cut small thin pieces off wood with a knife until it takes a shape.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whittle:m1:1
# text = To whittle is to cut small thin pieces off wood with a knife until it takes a shape.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	whittle	whittle	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	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
14	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whittle** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | off wood; with a knife; cut *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **take** | present | it | a shape |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shape=Theme |

<!-- .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 whittled a small wooden horse for the girl.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whittle:x1:1
# text = The old man whittled a small wooden horse for the girl.
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	whittled	whittle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whittle** | past | the old man | a small wooden horse |  |  |  | for the girl | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent horse=Product for girl=Beneficiary |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She whittled a long point on her stick.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whittle:x2:1
# text = She whittled a long point on her stick.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	whittled	whittle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	stick	stick	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 | **whittle** | past | She | a long point |  | her stick |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent point=Product |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He sat by the fire whittling a spoon.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:whittle:x3:1
# text = He sat by the fire whittling a spoon.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	whittling	whittle	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	spoon	spoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | past | He |  |  |  |  | by the fire | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by fire=Location |
| 2 | **whittle** | gerund | He *not said here* | a spoon |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spoon=Product |

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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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