| Chapter 13: Relations |

| 13.9. Defining new assertion verbs

Here is an example definition of a new verb:

> The verb to sport (he sports, they sport, he sported, it is sported, he is sporting) implies the wearing relation.

Once this is done, we can write the assertion

> Mr Wickham sports a Tory rosette.

which will do the the same thing as

> Mr Wickham wears a Tory rosette.

because both verbs have the same relation as their meaning.

Note that we have to spell out many parts of the verb:

> to sport - infinitive
> he sports - present singular
> they sport - present plural
> he sported - past
> it is sported - past participle
> he is sporting - present participle

Although it looks as if Inform could easily generate these given the infinitive "to sport" alone, by adding an "-s" here or an "-ed" there, English can be a very irregular language. Since only a few verbs will be defined in any single project it seems best to be explicit. (If we do miss out any of the parts of the verb, the result will be that the usages missed out will not be understood by Inform. Sometimes that's a good thing, as some verbs have seldom-used present participles, for instance - "he is liking me", for instance, is grammatical but odd.)

The Phrasebook index contains all the verbs associated with assertions, in the "table of verbs" section. When we add new verbs to our source, those will appear in the Phrasebook as well.

184
| Example Unthinkable Alliances People are to be grouped into alliances. To kiss someone is to join his or her faction, which may make a grand alliance; to strike them is to give notice of quitting, and to become a lone wolf.

185
| Example The Unexamined Life An adaptive hint system that tracks what the player needs to have seen or to possess in order to solve a given puzzle, and doles out suggestions accordingly. Handles changes in the game state with remarkable flexibility, and allows the player to decide how explicit a nudge he wants at any given moment.

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