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cop: copula

A copula is the relation between the complement of a copular verb and the copular verb. Copular heads are avoided when possible.

Bill is an honest man
cop(man, is)
nsubj(man, Bill)
amod(man, honest)
det(man, an)

Prepositional phrases are annotated similarly, the only difference being that the nominal predicate has an additional case marker.

Bill is from California
case(California, from)
cop(California, is)
nsubj(California, Bill)

When an adjective or adverb is being predicated of a nominal phrase, the adjective/adverb is the root, the nominal phrase is the nsubj, and the copula is the cop.

Bill is honest
nsubj(honest, Bill)
cop(honest, is)
It was yesterday
nsubj(yesterday, It)
cop(yesterday, was)

Prepositions may also project a cop dependent.

The light is on
cop(on, is)
nsubj(on, light)
det(light, The)

In predicative wh-constructions, the fronted wh-word is the head, and the copula is another cop.

What is that ?
cop(What, is)
nsubj(What, that)

However, whenever the copula has a clausal argument/adjunct, the copula becomes the root, so the cop relation is not used.

It was because Bill is honest
nsubj(was, It)
mark(honest, because)
ccomp(was, honest)
nsubj(honest, Bill)
cop(honest, is)
My question is : was that really true ?
nsubj(is, question)
ccomp(is, true)
cop(true, was)
nsubj(true, that)
advmod(true, really)
This is to inform you of our decision
nsubj(is, This)
advcl(is, inform)
aux(inform, to)
dobj(inform, you)
nmod(inform, decision)
case(decision, of)
poss(decision, our)

Predicative “be” is the only verb recognized as a copula; other copula-like verbs,such as “become”, “get”, and “seem”, are treated as regular raising verbs, and thus take xcomp arguments. Non-predicative uses of “be”–e.g., “be” when used in periphrastic verbal constructions, presentationals, or existentials–is annotated as an aux instead. of a cop.

Bill got rich
nsubj(got, Bill)
xcomp(got, rich)
Bill is speaking
nsubj(speaking, Bill)
aux(speaking, is)
Here are some bags
advmod(are, Here)
nsubj(are, bags)
det(bags, some)
There 's a cow in the field
expl('s, There)
nsubj('s, cow)
det(cow, a)
nmod('s, field)
det(field, the)
case(field, in)

Treebank Statistics (UD_English)

This relation is universal.

5044 nodes (2%) are attached to their parents as cop.

4837 instances of cop (96%) are right-to-left (child precedes parent). Average distance between parent and child is 2.16276764472641.

The following 13 pairs of parts of speech are connected with cop: en-pos/ADJ-en-pos/AUX (2510; 50% instances), en-pos/NOUN-en-pos/AUX (1794; 36% instances), en-pos/ADV-en-pos/AUX (258; 5% instances), en-pos/PROPN-en-pos/AUX (162; 3% instances), en-pos/PRON-en-pos/AUX (145; 3% instances), en-pos/NUM-en-pos/AUX (80; 2% instances), en-pos/VERB-en-pos/AUX (30; 1% instances), en-pos/DET-en-pos/AUX (21; 0% instances), en-pos/SYM-en-pos/AUX (21; 0% instances), en-pos/ADP-en-pos/AUX (15; 0% instances), en-pos/X-en-pos/AUX (5; 0% instances), en-pos/AUX-en-pos/AUX (2; 0% instances), en-pos/INTJ-en-pos/AUX (1; 0% instances).

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1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	folks	folks	NOUN	UH	_	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_

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1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	wedding	wedding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	fearing	fear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
10	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
12	basically	basically	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_

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1	Here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	excerpt	excerpt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	article	article	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_


Treebank Statistics (UD_English-ESL)

This relation is universal.

2547 nodes (3%) are attached to their parents as cop.

2489 instances of cop (98%) are right-to-left (child precedes parent). Average distance between parent and child is 1.99018453082057.

The following 12 pairs of parts of speech are connected with cop: en-pos/ADJ-en-pos/VERB (1465; 58% instances), en-pos/NOUN-en-pos/VERB (810; 32% instances), en-pos/PROPN-en-pos/VERB (82; 3% instances), en-pos/ADV-en-pos/VERB (69; 3% instances), en-pos/NUM-en-pos/VERB (46; 2% instances), en-pos/PRON-en-pos/VERB (37; 1% instances), en-pos/VERB-en-pos/VERB (24; 1% instances), en-pos/DET-en-pos/VERB (6; 0% instances), en-pos/SYM-en-pos/VERB (3; 0% instances), en-pos/ADP-en-pos/VERB (2; 0% instances), en-pos/X-en-pos/VERB (2; 0% instances), en-pos/PART-en-pos/VERB (1; 0% instances).

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1	_	_	DET	PRP$	_	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	_	_	NOUN	NNS	_	5	nsubj	_	_
3	_	_	VERB	VBD	_	5	cop	_	_
4	_	_	PART	RB	_	5	neg	_	_
5	_	_	ADJ	JJ	_	0	root	_	_
6	_	_	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	_	_	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	_	_	VERB	VB	_	6	xcomp	_	_
9	_	_	DET	PRP$	_	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	8	dobj	_	_
11	_	_	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	13	compound	_	_
13	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	10	nmod	_	_
14	_	_	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
15	_	_	CONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
16	_	_	DET	DT	_	18	det	_	_
17	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	18	compound	_	_
18	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	20	nsubj	_	_
19	_	_	VERB	VBD	_	20	cop	_	_
20	_	_	ADJ	JJ	_	5	conj	_	_
21	_	_	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_

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1	_	_	VERB	VBG	_	7	advcl	_	_
2	_	_	PRON	PRP	_	1	dobj	_	_
3	_	_	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	1	nmod	_	_
5	_	_	PRON	PRP	_	7	nsubj	_	_
6	_	_	AUX	MD	_	7	aux	_	_
7	_	_	VERB	VB	_	0	root	_	_
8	_	_	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	_	_	VERB	VB	_	7	xcomp	_	_
10	_	_	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
11	_	_	DET	DT	_	12	det	_	_
12	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	16	nsubj	_	_
13	_	_	VERB	VBZ	_	16	cop	_	_
14	_	_	DET	DT	_	16	det	_	_
15	_	_	ADJ	JJ	_	16	amod	_	_
16	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	9	ccomp	_	_
17	_	_	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	_	_	DET	DT	_	19	det	_	_
19	_	_	NOUN	NNS	_	16	nmod	_	_
20	_	_	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
21	_	_	NOUN	NNS	_	19	conj	_	_
22	_	_	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
23	_	_	NOUN	NNS	_	19	conj	_	_
24	_	_	CONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
25	_	_	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	_	_	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
27	_	_	CONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
28	_	_	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
29	_	_	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_

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1	_	_	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
2	_	_	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	_	_	DET	DT	_	1	nmod	_	_
4	_	_	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
5	_	_	DET	DT	_	6	det	_	_
6	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	17	nsubj	_	_
7	_	_	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	_	_	NOUN	NN	_	6	nmod	_	_
9	_	_	DET	WDT	_	13	nmod	_	_
10	_	_	PRON	PRP	_	13	nsubjpass	_	_
11	_	_	AUX	VBP	_	13	aux	_	_
12	_	_	AUX	VBN	_	13	auxpass	_	_
13	_	_	VERB	VBN	_	8	acl:relcl	_	_
14	_	_	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
15	_	_	VERB	VBZ	_	17	cop	_	_
16	_	_	PROPN	NNP	_	17	compound	_	_
17	_	_	PROPN	NNP	_	0	root	_	_
18	_	_	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_


Treebank Statistics (UD_English-LinES)

This relation is universal.

1040 nodes (2%) are attached to their parents as cop.

990 instances of cop (95%) are right-to-left (child precedes parent). Average distance between parent and child is 2.13942307692308.

The following 10 pairs of parts of speech are connected with cop: en-pos/ADJ-en-pos/AUX (458; 44% instances), en-pos/NOUN-en-pos/AUX (381; 37% instances), en-pos/PRON-en-pos/AUX (78; 8% instances), en-pos/VERB-en-pos/AUX (75; 7% instances), en-pos/PROPN-en-pos/AUX (27; 3% instances), en-pos/ADV-en-pos/AUX (9; 1% instances), en-pos/NUM-en-pos/AUX (5; 0% instances), en-pos/AUX-en-pos/AUX (4; 0% instances), en-pos/ADP-en-pos/AUX (2; 0% instances), en-pos/SCONJ-en-pos/AUX (1; 0% instances).

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1	Filters	_	NOUN	PL-NOM	_	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	_	AUX	PRES	_	3	cop	_	_
3	additive	_	ADJ	POS	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	_	PUNCT	Period	_	3	punct	_	_

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1	Is	_	AUX	PRES	_	5	cop	_	_
2	he	_	PRON	PERS-P3SG-NOM	_	5	nsubj	_	_
3	a	_	DET	IND-SG	_	5	det	_	_
4	smart	_	ADJ	POS	_	5	amod	_	_
5	detective	_	NOUN	SG-NOM	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	_	PUNCT	QuestionMark	_	5	punct	_	_

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1	What	_	PRON	WH	_	0	root	_	_
2	are	_	AUX	PRES	_	1	cop	_	_
3	XML	_	PROPN	SG-NOM	_	4	compound	_	_
4	schemas	_	NOUN	PL-NOM	_	1	nsubj	_	_


Treebank Statistics (UD_English-ParTUT)

This relation is universal.

551 nodes (1%) are attached to their parents as cop.

507 instances of cop (92%) are right-to-left (child precedes parent). Average distance between parent and child is 2.27404718693285.

The following 10 pairs of parts of speech are connected with cop: en-pos/NOUN-en-pos/AUX (238; 43% instances), en-pos/ADJ-en-pos/AUX (235; 43% instances), en-pos/VERB-en-pos/AUX (23; 4% instances), en-pos/PRON-en-pos/AUX (19; 3% instances), en-pos/ADV-en-pos/AUX (13; 2% instances), en-pos/NUM-en-pos/AUX (10; 2% instances), en-pos/PROPN-en-pos/AUX (8; 1% instances), en-pos/INTJ-en-pos/AUX (2; 0% instances), en-pos/SYM-en-pos/AUX (2; 0% instances), en-pos/DET-en-pos/AUX (1; 0% instances).

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1	I	I	PRON	PE	Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	will	AUX	VM	Mood=Ind|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	ask	ask	VERB	V	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	CS	_	6	mark	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PE	Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	reconsider	reconsider	VERB	V	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	FF	_	6	punct	_	_
8	since	since	SCONJ	CS	_	13	mark	_	_
9	this	this	PRON	PD	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VA	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	not	not	PART	PART	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
12	the	the	DET	RD	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	case	case	NOUN	S	Number=Sing	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	FS	_	3	punct	_	_

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1	Mr	mister	NOUN	S	Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	10	vocative	_	_
2	Cox	Cox	PROPN	SP	_	1	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	FF	_	4	punct	_	_
4	Mr	mister	NOUN	S	Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	Hänsch	Hänsch	PROPN	SP	_	4	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	FF	_	1	punct	_	_
7	would	will	AUX	VM	Mood=Ind|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
8	this	this	PRON	PD	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VA	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
10	acceptable	acceptable	ADJ	A	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	E	_	12	case	_	_
12	you	you	PRON	PE	Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	FS	_	10	punct	_	_

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1	When	when	SCONJ	CS	_	3	mark	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PE	Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	look	look	VERB	V	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	E	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	RD	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	mycelium	mycelium	NOUN	S	Gender=Masc|Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	FF	_	3	punct	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PE	Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	're	be	AUX	VA	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	highly	highly	ADV	B	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	branched	branch	VERB	V	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	FS	_	11	punct	_	_


cop in other languages: [am] [ar] [bg] [bxr] [ca] [ckb] [cop] [cs] [cu] [da] [de] [el] [en] [es] [et] [eu] [fa] [fi] [fo] [fr] [ga] [gl] [got] [grc] [he] [hi] [hr] [hu] [id] [it] [ja] [kk] [kmr] [ko] [la] [lv] [mr] [nl] [no] [pl] [pt] [ro] [ru] [sa] [sk] [sla] [sl] [so] [sr] [sv] [swl] [ta] [tr] [u] [ug] [uk] [ur] [urj] [vi] [yue] [zh]