--- title: T was all cussing and calling down misfortune on him; but he was so… — More English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: T was all cussing and calling down misfortune on him; but he was so mazed in fright that he could only stand there shaking all over, and staring down at the horrid thing; and if he'd gone on long, Tom would have tumbled down in a fit. Who acts: T. A sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph J --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/14/) [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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/) / 14 # More English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, part 4, sentence 14 T was all cussing and calling down misfortune on him; but he was so mazed in fright that he could only stand there shaking all over, and staring down at the horrid thing; and if he'd gone on long, Tom would have tumbled down in a fit. **Who acts:** T · **What happens:** cuss, call down, maze, stand, shake, stare down · **To what, where:** misfortune, T, fright, long, Tom, fit This is a sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (T), 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:pg14241:18:14 # text = T was all cussing and calling down misfortune on him; but he was so mazed in fright that he could only stand there shaking all over, and staring down at the horrid thing; and if he'd gone on long, Tom would have tumbled down in a fit. 1 T t NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 all all ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 cussing cuss VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 5 and and CCONJ CC _ 6 cc _ _ 6 calling call VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 conj _ _ 7 down down ADP RP _ 6 compound:prt _ _ 8 misfortune misfortune NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 9 on on ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 ; ; PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 12 but but CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 13 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 14 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux:pass _ _ 15 so so ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ _ 16 mazed maze VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 17 in in ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 fright fright NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 19 that that SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 20 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 21 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 only only ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 stand stand VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 xcomp _ _ 24 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 23 advmod _ _ 25 shaking shake VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 advcl _ _ 26 all all ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 27 over over ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 30 staring stare VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 25 conj _ _ 31 down down ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 32 at at ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 34 horrid horrid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 amod _ _ 35 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 ; ; PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 38 if if SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 39 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 'd have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 aux _ _ 41 gone go VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 4 parataxis _ _ 42 on on ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 45 Tom Tom PROPN NNP Number=Sing 48 nsubj:pass _ _ 46 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 48 aux _ _ 47 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 48 aux _ _ 48 tumbled tumble VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 41 conj _ _ 49 down down ADP RP _ 48 compound:prt _ _ 50 in in ADP IN _ 52 case _ _ 51 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 fit fit NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **cuss** | past · progressive | T | | | | | all *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **call down** *speech: assert* | gerund | T *not said here* | misfortune | | | | on T | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent misfortune=Recipient | | 3 | **maze** | past · passive | | T | | fright | | | tree rules | | 4 | **stand** | could | T | | | there | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **shake** | gerund | T *not said here* | | | | | over *property* | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 6 | **stare down** | gerund | T *not said here* | | | | | at the horrid thing; down *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at thing=Theme | | 7 | **go** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect | T | | | long | | | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on long=Location | | 8 | **tumble down** | would · perfect · passive | | Tom | | a fit | | | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme | 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 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/13/) - next →: [sentence 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/15/) - ↑ back to [More English Fairy Tales, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/)