---
title: So, if anything was to be done, the elder had at all times to do it;… — Grimm's Fairy Stories · tree and pragmatics
description: So, if anything was to be done, the elder had at all times to do it; but sometimes the father would call him to fetch something in the dead of night, and perhaps the way led through the churchyard or by a dismal place, and then he used to answer, "No, father, I cannot go there, I am afraid," for he 
---

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# Grimm's Fairy Stories, Oh, If I Could But Shiver!, sentence 2

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So, if anything was to be done, the elder had at all times to do it; but sometimes the father would call him to fetch something in the dead of night, and perhaps the way led through the churchyard or by a dismal place, and then he used to answer, "No, father, I cannot go there, I am afraid," for he was a coward.

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**Who acts:** elder, father, way · **What happens:** do, have, call, fetch, lead, use · **To what, where:** anything, elder, him, something, dead, churchyard · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (elder, father, way), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg11027:9:2
# text = So, if anything was to be done, the elder had at all times to do it; but sometimes the father would call him to fetch something in the dead of night, and perhaps the way led through the churchyard or by a dismal place, and then he used to answer, "No, father, I cannot go there, I am afraid," for he was a coward.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
4	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	elder	elder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
15	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	advcl	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
21	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	25	advmod	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
24	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	parataxis	_	_
26	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	advcl	_	_
29	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	28	obj	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	obl	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
37	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	40	advmod	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nsubj	_	_
40	led	lead	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
41	through	through	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	churchyard	churchyard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
44	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
45	by	by	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	dismal	dismal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	53	cc	_	_
51	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	53	advmod	_	_
52	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
53	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	parataxis	_	_
54	to	to	PART	TO	_	55	mark	_	_
55	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	53	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
57	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	60	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	60	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
60	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
62	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	65	nsubj	_	_
63	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	65	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	65	advmod	_	_
65	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	53	conj	_	_
66	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	65	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
68	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	70	nsubj	_	_
69	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	70	cop	_	_
70	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	65	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	77	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	77	punct	_	_
73	for	for	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
74	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	77	nsubj	_	_
75	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	77	cop	_	_
76	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
77	coward	coward	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	70	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · passive |  | anything |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **have** | past | the elder |  |  |  | time |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive | the elder *not said here* | elder |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |
| 4 | **call** | would | the father |  | him *= he* |  |  | sometimes *property* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 5 | **fetch** | to-infinitive | the father *not said here* | something |  | the dead |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Theme |
| 6 | **lead** | past | the way |  |  | the churchyard or a dismal place |  | perhaps *property* | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent through churchyard=Destination |
| 7 | **use** | past | father |  |  |  | then |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 8 | **answer** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | father *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **not** **go** *in a quote* | can | father |  |  | there |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 10 | **is** *in a quote* | present | father |  |  |  |  | afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 11 | **is** | past | father |  |  |  |  | for a coward | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

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**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.

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