--- title: "He's taking a turn for the better at last!" she said to herself; bu… — More English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: "He's taking a turn for the better at last!" she said to herself; but he was thinking just then that, when next a fairy came to play with him, he might not get off quite so easily as he had done this time. Who acts: boy, mother. A sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, More English --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/16/71/) [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/) / [More English Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/) / [More English Fairy Tales, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/16/) / 71 # More English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, part 2, sentence 71 "He's taking a turn for the better at last!" she said to herself; but he was thinking just then that, when next a fairy came to play with him, he might not get off quite so easily as he had done this time. **Who acts:** boy, mother · **What happens:** take, say, think, come, play, not get off · **To what, where:** turn, mother, that · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, mother), 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:pg14241:16:71 # text = "He's taking a turn for the better at last!" she said to herself; but he was thinking just then that, when next a fairy came to play with him, he might not get off quite so easily as he had done this time. 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 's be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 15 ccomp _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 turn turn NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 for for ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 4 obl _ _ 10 at at ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ! ! PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 " " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ 14 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 15 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 16 to to ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 17 herself herself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 15 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 ; ; PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 19 but but CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 20 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 21 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 aux _ _ 22 thinking think VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 15 advcl _ _ 23 just just ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 24 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 25 advmod _ _ 25 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 22 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 27 when when SCONJ WRB _ 31 mark _ _ 28 next next ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 fairy fairy NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 31 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 advcl _ _ 32 to to PART TO _ 33 mark _ _ 33 play play VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 xcomp _ _ 34 with with ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 35 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 37 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 38 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 39 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 40 advmod _ _ 40 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 ccomp _ _ 41 off off ADP RP _ 40 compound:prt _ _ 42 quite quite ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 43 so so ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 44 easily easily ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 45 as as SCONJ IN _ 48 mark _ _ 46 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 47 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 48 aux _ _ 48 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 44 advcl _ _ 49 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 50 det _ _ 50 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 15 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** *in a quote* | present · progressive | boy | a turn | | | | for the better | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent turn=Theme for good=Beneficiary | | 2 | **say** *speech: express* | past | mother | | mother | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to herself=Recipient clause=Topic | | 3 | **think** *speech: other* | past · progressive | boy | that | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 4 | **come** | past | boy *not said here* | | | | | next a fairy | tree rules | | 5 | **play** | to-infinitive | boy *not said here* | | | | | with boy | vn play-114.2-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with he=Co-Agent | | 6 | **not** **get off** | might | boy | | | | | easily *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **do** | past · perfect | boy | | | | time | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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:** «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 14241 (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 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/16/70/) - next →: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/16/72/) - ↑ back to [More English Fairy Tales, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/16/)