--- title: In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost three hundred years old, for that might be known by reading the great beam on which the date of the year was carved: together with tulips and hop-binds there were whole verses spelled as in former times, and over every window was a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/19/1/) [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/) / [Andersen's Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/) / [The Old House](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/19/) / 1 # Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House, sentence 1 In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost three hundred years old, for that might be known by reading the great beam on which the date of the year was carved: together with tulips and hop-binds there were whole verses spelled as in former times, and over every window was a distorted face cut out in the beam. **Who acts:** house, whole verses · **What happens:** be, know, read, carve, spell, distort · **To what, where:** street, that, great beam, date, whole verses, distorted face This is a sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Old House. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (house, whole verses), 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:pg1597:19:1 # text = In the street, up there, was an old, a very old house--it was almost three hundred years old, for that might be known by reading the great beam on which the date of the year was carved: together with tulips and hop-binds there were whole verses spelled as in former times, and over every window was a distorted face cut out in the beam. 1 In in ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 street street NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 5 up up ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 3 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 8 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ _ 9 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 13 very very ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 14 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 amod _ _ 15 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 16 -- -- PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 17 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 18 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 19 almost almost ADV RB _ 21 advmod _ _ 20 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 21 compound _ _ 21 hundred hundred NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 22 nummod _ _ 22 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 obl:unmarked _ _ 23 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 25 for for SCONJ IN _ 29 mark _ _ 26 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 29 nsubj:pass _ _ 27 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 28 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 29 aux:pass _ _ 29 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 23 parataxis _ _ 30 by by SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 31 reading read VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 29 advcl _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 33 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 amod _ _ 34 beam beam NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ _ 35 on on ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 43 obl _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 date date NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 nsubj:pass _ _ 39 of of ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 year year NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nmod _ _ 42 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 aux:pass _ _ 43 carved carve VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 34 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 : : PUNCT : _ 47 punct _ _ 45 together together ADV RB _ 47 advmod _ _ 46 with with ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 47 tulips tulip NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 parataxis _ _ 48 and and CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 49 hop hop NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 50 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 49 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 51 binds bind NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 conj _ _ 52 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 53 expl _ _ 53 were be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 47 parataxis _ _ 54 whole whole ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 55 amod _ _ 55 verses verse NOUN NNS Number=Plur 53 nsubj _ _ 56 spelled spell VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 55 acl _ _ 57 as as ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 58 in in ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 59 former former ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 60 amod _ _ 60 times time NOUN NNS Number=Plur 56 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 61 , , PUNCT , _ 69 punct _ _ 62 and and CCONJ CC _ 69 cc _ _ 63 over over ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 64 every every DET DT PronType=Tot 65 det _ _ 65 window window NOUN NN Number=Sing 69 obl _ _ 66 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 69 cop _ _ 67 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 69 det _ _ 68 distorted distort VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 69 amod _ _ 69 face face NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 conj _ _ 70 cut cut VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 69 acl _ _ 71 out out ADP RP _ 70 compound:prt _ _ 72 in in ADP IN _ 74 case _ _ 73 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 74 det _ _ 74 beam beam NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 75 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | | | | the street | | a old house *obl*; old *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **is** | past | house | | | | year | old *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **know** | might · passive | | that | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus | | 4 | **read** | gerund | | the great beam | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beam=Topic | | 5 | **carve** | past · passive | | the date of the year | | the great beam | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme on which=Destination | | 6 | **be** | past | whole verses | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **spell** | participle | | whole verses *not said here* | | | time | | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **distort** | participle | | | | | | | vn knead-26.5 «NP.material V PP.product»: agent=Material | | 9 | **is a** | past | | a distorted face | | every window | | | tree rules | | 10 | **cut out** | participle | | a distorted face *not said here* | | the beam | | | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | 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:** «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, Project Gutenberg book 1597 (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: [The Bell, 69](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/18/69/) - next →: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/19/2/) - ↑ back to [The Old House](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/19/)