---
title: So they stretched out their claws, and he said, "Ah, what long nails… — Grimm's Fairy Stories · tree and pragmatics
description: So they stretched out their claws, and he said, "Ah, what long nails you have got; wait a bit, I must cut them off first"; and so saying he caught them up by the necks, and put them on his board and screwed their feet down. " Who acts: paws, cold. A sentence of «Grimm's Fairy Stories» by Jacob Grimm
---

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# Grimm's Fairy Stories, Oh, If I Could But Shiver!, sentence 97

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So they stretched out their claws, and he said, "Ah, what long nails you have got; wait a bit, I must cut them off first"; and so saying he caught them up by the necks, and put them on his board and screwed their feet down. "

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**Who acts:** paws, cold · **What happens:** stretch out, say, get, wait, cut off, catch up · **To what, where:** claws, long nails, bit, paws, board, feet · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (paws, cold), 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:pg11027:9:97
# text = So they stretched out their claws, and he said, "Ah, what long nails you have got; wait a bit, I must cut them off first"; and so saying he caught them up by the necks, and put them on his board and screwed their feet down. "
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stretched	stretch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	claws	claw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	Ah	ah	INTJ	UH	_	20	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
15	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	20	obj	_	_
16	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	nails	nail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
22	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	advcl	_	_
29	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obj	_	_
30	off	off	ADP	RP	_	28	compound:prt	_	_
31	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
35	so	so	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
36	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
37	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
38	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	ccomp	_	_
39	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	_
40	up	up	ADP	RP	_	38	compound:prt	_	_
41	by	by	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	necks	neck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
46	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
47	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	obj	_	_
48	on	on	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	50	nmod:poss	_	_
50	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
52	screwed	screw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
53	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	54	nmod:poss	_	_
54	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	obj	_	_
55	down	down	ADV	RB	_	52	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
57	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stretch out** | past | paws *= paw* | paws's claws |  |  |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent claw=Patient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | cold |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **get** *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive |  | long nails |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: subject=Beneficiary what=Theme |
| 4 | **wait** *in a quote* | infinitive | paws *= paw* *not said here* | a bit |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **cut off** *in a quote* | must | cold | paws *= paw* |  |  |  | first *property* | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector they=Eventuality |
| 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | paws *= paw* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 7 | **catch up** | past | cold | paws *= paw* |  |  |  | by the necks | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 8 | **put** | infinitive | paws *= paw* *not said here* | paws *= paw* |  | cold's board |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme on board=Destination |
| 9 | **screw down** | past | paws *= paw* *not said here* | paws's feet |  |  |  | down *property* | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent foot=Patient |

<!-- .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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