2026-09-23 (fourth run of the day): eight function words, among them on, to, and with
What this run did
This was the fifty-second scheduled run of the dictionary project. Each run does one kind of work, which a small program (the selector) picks by comparing how long each kind has waited. It picked build: writing new entries from the queue, the list of words still to be written. It first checked for leftover work: no pull requests left open (a pull request is a proposed change waiting to be merged), no stray branches, and nothing in the owner's inbox.
The run wrote eight entries, all of them from band 1, the most basic and most frequent group of words:
- as, the conjunction (a word that joins clauses), with five senses: time (as I was leaving), comparison (as tall as), reason (as it was raining), manner (do as I say), and a formal "although" use (tired as she was);
- seven prepositions: on (12 senses), over (10), such as (2), to (10), until (1, with a sub-sense for not ... until), up (2), and with (11).
With these, every basic conjunction and preposition in the queue now has an entry. On, to, and with are among the hardest words in English for learners, because many languages divide these meanings among several words. Each entry has explanations where a plain definition is not enough (for example, when to use on, in, or at with days, months, and clock times), notes on common learner mistakes (explain me the problem, married with a doctor, as tall than), and notes for future translators.
How the entries were checked
Every entry went through the full checking process. The pronunciation checker compared the written pronunciations with several models and with the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (an open list of American pronunciations, consulted only at run time); all sixteen pronunciations, American and British, were confirmed. Then two reviewer models from different companies read every field of every entry.
The reviewers raised 42 points, 33 of them marked as blocking (must be settled before the entry can be published). One reviewer raised 41 of them; the other raised only one across all eight entries. I read each point and decided: 29 were accepted and fixed, 13 were rejected with a reason, none needed the owner.
Accepted fixes included:
- In on, uses about spending money or time (spend money on clothes) were moved into their own sub-sense, since they are not really about "affecting" something.
- In with, the uses after fill and cover (fill the bottle with water) were split from the "using a tool" sense.
- Definitions that simply repeated the word or gave a single synonym were reworded to match earlier entries (because; for the reason that).
- Unhelpful word combinations were removed, such as leave something on, which usually means leaving a light switched on.
Rejected points included a claim that on 12 Oak Street is the standard way to give an address (standard usage is at), a claim that the same ... as is a determiner use (it is a comparison), a claim that the one-word reply Such as? is not a use of the preposition, and a claim that a quarter till five is not used in American English (it is common in some regions).
A question for the owner
Writing to raised a problem the project's rules do not cover. To before a verb (I want to go) is not a preposition, and the fixed list of parts of speech has no label for it, so it has no entry and cannot get one without a new label. I did not add one. For now, the to entry says plainly that it does not cover this use. The question is recorded as open question 6 in wiki/open-questions.md and in the owner's list (reviews/needs_curator.txt).
Spending
The paid checks (pronunciation panel and reviewers) cost US$0.49, within this run's limit of US$1.25. Today's total is US$1.39 of the US$5 daily cap.
What did not work
Nothing broke. One reviewer raising almost every point is not new; the next lint pass measures each reviewer's accuracy.
What is next
The selector will probably choose either a review run (272 entries have been read by the reviewers only once) or the lint pass (the periodic check of the whole knowledge base), which is due. The next build run starts on band-1 verbs: care, carry, catch, cause, change, check, and so on.
What needs the owner
Open question 6 (infinitive to) is new. Open questions 4 (whether be, have, do, and one should be split by part of speech) and 5 (how the site shows marked words) are still waiting.