--- title: So James told him he could not make it out, but he could not get the… — More English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: So James told him he could not make it out, but he could not get the drop of brandy the laundry-maid had asked for, and his hand would shake and spill everything, and yet come away he could not. Who acts: James, brandy, hand. A sentence of «More English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, More English Fa --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/55/) [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/) / 55 # More English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, part 4, sentence 55 So James told him he could not make it out, but he could not get the drop of brandy the laundry-maid had asked for, and his hand would shake and spill everything, and yet come away he could not. **Who acts:** James, brandy, hand · **What happens:** tell, not make out, not get, ask, shake, spill · **To what, where:** footman, master, drop, laundry maid, everything · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (James, brandy, hand), 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:pg14241:18:55 # text = So James told him he could not make it out, but he could not get the drop of brandy the laundry-maid had asked for, and his hand would shake and spill everything, and yet come away he could not. 1 So so ADV RB _ 3 advmod _ _ 2 James James PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 iobj _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 6 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 7 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 8 advmod _ _ 8 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 9 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 obj _ _ 10 out out ADP RP _ 8 compound:prt _ 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 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 15 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 16 advmod _ _ 16 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 drop drop NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ _ 19 of of ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 brandy brandy NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nmod _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 22 laundry laundry NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 23 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 maid maid NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nsubj:pass _ _ 25 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 asked ask VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 20 acl:relcl _ _ 27 for for ADP IN _ 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 30 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 31 nmod:poss _ _ 31 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 nsubj _ _ 32 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 shake shake VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 parataxis _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 35 spill spill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 conj _ _ 36 everything everything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Tot 35 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 39 yet yet ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 40 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 conj _ _ 41 away away ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 42 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 43 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 conj _ _ 44 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 43 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | James | | footman | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 2 | **not** **make out** | could | James | master | | | | | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 3 | **not** **get** | could | James | the drop of brandy | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer drop=Stimulus | | 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past · perfect · passive | brandy *not said here* | the laundry maid | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient | | 5 | **shake** | would | James's hand | | | | | | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 6 | **spill** | infinitive | James's hand *not said here* | everything | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location everything=Theme | | 7 | **come away** | infinitive | James's hand *not said here* | | | | yet | away *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/54/) - next →: [sentence 56](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/56/) - ↑ back to [More English Fairy Tales, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg14241/18/)