--- title: The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't… — The Velveteen Rabbit · tree and pragmatics description: The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Who acts: Rabbit, real rabbits, sawdus --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/21/) [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/) / [The Velveteen Rabbit](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/) / [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/) / 21 # The Velveteen Rabbit, Opening, sentence 21 The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. **Who acts:** Rabbit, real rabbits, sawdust · **What happens:** not claim, be, not know, exist, think, stuff · **To what, where:** model, TOYS, modern circles · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Rabbit, real rabbits, sawdust), 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:pg11757:1:21 # text = The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Rabbit rabbit NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 5 claim claim VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 6 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 7 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 9 cop _ _ 8 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 model model NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 ccomp _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 9 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 13 for for SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 14 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 15 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 16 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 17 advmod _ _ 17 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 18 that that SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 19 real real ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 rabbits rabbit NOUN NNS Number=Plur 21 nsubj _ _ 21 existed exist VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 22 ; ; PUNCT : _ 24 punct _ _ 23 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 24 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 25 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 26 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 aux:pass _ _ 27 all all ADV RB _ 28 advmod _ _ 28 stuffed stuff VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 24 ccomp _ _ 29 with with ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 30 sawdust sawdust NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ _ 31 like like ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 32 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 28 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 understood understand VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 conj _ _ 37 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 38 det _ _ 38 sawdust sawdust NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 nsubj _ _ 39 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 45 cop _ _ 40 quite quite ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 41 out out ADV RB _ 45 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 42 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ SpaceAfter=No 44 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 date date NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 ccomp _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 47 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 48 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 50 advmod _ _ 49 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 50 aux:pass _ _ 50 mentioned mention VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 24 conj _ _ 51 in in ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 52 modern modern ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 53 amod _ _ 53 circles circle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **claim** *speech: other* | could | the Rabbit | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is a** | to-infinitive | | a model | | | | of anything | tree rules | | 3 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | Rabbit | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 4 | **exist** | past | real rabbits | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **think** *speech: other* | past | Rabbit | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 6 | **stuff** | past · passive | | TOYS *= toy* | | | | with sawdust; like Rabbit; all *property* | vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: subject=Destination with sawdust=Theme | | 7 | **understand** | past | Rabbit | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **is** | past | that sawdust | | | | | of date; out *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **not** **mention** *speech: other* | should · passive | Rabbit *not said here* | | | modern circles | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S» | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/20/) - next →: [sentence 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/22/) - ↑ back to [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11757/1/)