--- title: A father had two sons, the elder of whom was forward and clever enou… — Grimm's Fairy Stories · tree and pragmatics description: A father had two sons, the elder of whom was forward and clever enough to do almost anything; but the younger was so stupid that he could learn nothing, and when the people saw him they said, "Will thy father still keep thee as a burden to him?" Who acts: father, people. A sentence of «Grimm's Fairy --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/9/1/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Grimm's Fairy Stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/) / [Oh, If I Could But Shiver!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/9/) / 1 # Grimm's Fairy Stories, Oh, If I Could But Shiver!, sentence 1 A father had two sons, the elder of whom was forward and clever enough to do almost anything; but the younger was so stupid that he could learn nothing, and when the people saw him they said, "Will thy father still keep thee as a burden to him?" **Who acts:** father, people · **What happens:** have, be, do, learn, see, say · **To what, where:** two sons, anything, nothing, father, thee · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm, Oh, If I Could But Shiver!. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (father, people), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg11027:9:1 # text = A father had two sons, the elder of whom was forward and clever enough to do almost anything; but the younger was so stupid that he could learn nothing, and when the people saw him they said, "Will thy father still keep thee as a burden to him?" 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 5 nummod _ _ 5 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 elder elder NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 appos _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 whom whom PRON WP PronType=Rel 12 obl _ _ 11 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 cop _ _ 12 forward forward ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 clever clever ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 conj _ _ 15 enough enough ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 advcl _ _ 18 almost almost ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 19 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 17 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 ; ; PUNCT : _ 26 punct _ _ 21 but but CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 23 younger young ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 22 xcomp _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 cop _ _ 25 so so ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 26 stupid stupid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 27 that that SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 learn learn VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 advcl _ _ 31 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 30 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 34 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 37 advmod _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 37 nsubj _ _ 37 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 advcl _ _ 38 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ _ 39 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 40 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 42 " " PUNCT `` _ 47 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 Will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 44 thy thy PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 45 nmod:poss _ _ 45 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 nsubj _ _ 46 still still ADV RB _ 47 advmod _ _ 47 keep keep VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 40 conj _ _ 48 thee thou PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch 47 obj _ _ 49 as as ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 50 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 burden burden NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obl _ _ 52 to to ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 53 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 54 ? ? PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 55 " " PUNCT '' _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | a father | two sons | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Patient | | 2 | **is** | past | | | | | | of the elder; forward *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **do** | to-infinitive | a father *not said here* | anything | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Eventuality | | 4 | **is** | past | | | | | | stupid *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **learn** | could | father | nothing | | | | | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic | | 6 | **see** | past | the people | father | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus | | 7 | **say** *speech: ask* | past | people | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **keep** *in a quote* | future | thy father | thee | | | still | as a burden to him | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thou=Theme | 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. **Text:** «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm, Project Gutenberg book 11027 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [Hansel and Grethel, 112](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/8/112/) - next →: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/9/2/) - ↑ back to [Oh, If I Could But Shiver!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11027/9/)