---
title: When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any… — The Velveteen Rabbit · tree and pragmatics
description: When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real." Who acts: playthings, children, I. A sentence of «The Velveteen Rabbit» by Margery Williams Bianco, Opening, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every
---

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# The Velveteen Rabbit, Opening, sentence 205

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When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."

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**Who acts:** playthings, children, I · **What happens:** be, wear out, not need, come, take away, turn · **To what, where:** playthings, Real

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This is a sentence of «The Velveteen Rabbit» by Margery Williams Bianco, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (playthings, children, I), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg11757:1:205
# text = When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	4	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	advcl	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	worn	wear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
7	out	out	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
11	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	any	any	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
18	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	20	advmod	_	_
19	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
23	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	away	away	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
25	with	with	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	22	obl	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	turn	turn	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
29	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obj	_	_
30	into	into	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | playthings *= plaything* |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wear out** | participle | playthings *= plaything* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **need** | present · do-support | the children | playthings *= plaything* |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot they=Theme |
| 4 | **come** | present | I |  |  |  | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **take away** | present | I *not said here* | playthings *= plaything* |  |  |  | with me; away *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 6 | **turn** | present | I *not said here* | playthings *= plaything* |  | Real |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent they=Theme into real=Trajectory |

<!-- .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:** «The Velveteen Rabbit» by Margery Williams Bianco, Project Gutenberg book 11757 (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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