---
title: Before the garden there was a large iron railing with an iron door,… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: Before the garden there was a large iron railing with an iron door, it looked quite splendid, and people stood still and peeped in, and the sparrows hung by scores in the vine, and chattered away at each other as well as they could, but it was not about the old house, for they could not remember it,
---

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# Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Old House, sentence 108

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Before the garden there was a large iron railing with an iron door, it looked quite splendid, and people stood still and peeped in, and the sparrows hung by scores in the vine, and chattered away at each other as well as they could, but it was not about the old house, for they could not remember it, so many years had passed--so many that the little boy had grown up to a whole man, yes, a clever man, and a pleasure to his parents; and he had just been married, and, together with his little wife, had come to live in the house here, where the garden was; and he stood by her there whilst she planted a field-flower that she found so pretty; she planted it with her little hand, and pressed the earth around it with her fingers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** large iron, iron, people, sparrows, little boy, garden · **What happens:** rail, look, stand, peep, hang, chatter away · **To what, where:** sparrows, vine, house, many years, boy, garden

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (large iron, iron, people, sparrows), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg1597:19:108
# text = Before the garden there was a large iron railing with an iron door, it looked quite splendid, and people stood still and peeped in, and the sparrows hung by scores in the vine, and chattered away at each other as well as they could, but it was not about the old house, for they could not remember it, so many years had passed--so many that the little boy had grown up to a whole man, yes, a clever man, and a pleasure to his parents; and he had just been married, and, together with his little wife, had come to live in the house here, where the garden was; and he stood by her there whilst she planted a field-flower that she found so pretty; she planted it with her little hand, and pressed the earth around it with her fingers.
1	Before	before	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
4	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	5	expl	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
9	railing	rail	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	iron	iron	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	looked	look	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	splendid	splendid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	nsubj	_	_
22	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
23	still	still	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	peeped	peep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	conj	_	_
26	in	in	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	nsubj	_	_
31	hung	hang	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	acl	_	_
32	by	by	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	scores	score	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obl	_	_
34	in	in	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	vine	vine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
38	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
39	chattered	chatter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
40	away	away	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
41	at	at	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	39	obl	_	_
43	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	fixed	_	_
44	as	as	ADV	RB	_	45	advmod	_	_
45	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	39	advmod	_	_
46	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	48	mark	_	_
47	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
48	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	45	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
50	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	57	cc	_	_
51	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	57	nsubj	_	_
52	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	57	cop	_	_
53	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	57	advmod	_	_
54	about	about	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
55	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
56	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
57	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
59	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	63	mark	_	_
60	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	nsubj	_	_
61	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	63	aux	_	_
62	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	63	advmod	_	_
63	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	39	conj	_	_
64	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
66	so	so	ADV	RB	_	70	advmod	_	_
67	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	_
68	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	70	nsubj:pass	_	_
69	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	70	aux	_	_
70	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	63	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	73	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	so	so	ADV	RB	_	73	advmod	_	_
73	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	70	parataxis	_	_
74	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	79	mark	_	_
75	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
76	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	77	amod	_	_
77	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	79	nsubj	_	_
78	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	79	aux	_	_
79	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	73	advcl	_	_
80	up	up	ADP	RP	_	79	compound:prt	_	_
81	to	to	ADP	IN	_	84	case	_	_
82	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	84	det	_	_
83	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	84	amod	_	_
84	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	79	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
85	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	90	punct	_	_
86	yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	90	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
87	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	90	punct	_	_
88	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	90	det	_	_
89	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	90	amod	_	_
90	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	94	punct	_	_
92	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	94	cc	_	_
93	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	94	det	_	_
94	pleasure	pleasure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	90	nmod	_	_
95	to	to	ADP	IN	_	97	case	_	_
96	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	97	nmod:poss	_	_
97	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	94	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
98	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	104	punct	_	_
99	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	104	cc	_	_
100	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	104	nsubj:pass	_	_
101	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	104	aux	_	_
102	just	just	ADV	RB	_	104	advmod	_	_
103	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	104	aux:pass	_	_
104	married	marry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
105	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	115	punct	_	_
106	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	115	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
107	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	115	punct	_	_
108	together	together	ADV	RB	_	115	advmod	_	_
109	with	with	ADP	IN	_	112	case	_	_
110	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	112	nmod:poss	_	_
111	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	112	amod	_	_
112	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	115	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
113	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	112	punct	_	_
114	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	115	aux	_	_
115	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	104	conj	_	_
116	to	to	PART	TO	_	117	mark	_	_
117	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	115	xcomp	_	_
118	in	in	ADP	IN	_	120	case	_	_
119	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	120	det	_	_
120	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	117	obl	_	_
121	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	117	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
122	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	123	punct	_	_
123	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	117	advmod	_	_
124	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	125	det	_	_
125	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	123	nsubj	_	_
126	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	125	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
127	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	130	punct	_	_
128	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	130	cc	_	_
129	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	130	nsubj	_	_
130	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
131	by	by	ADP	IN	_	132	case	_	_
132	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	130	obl	_	_
133	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	130	advmod	_	_
134	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	IN	_	136	mark	_	_
135	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	136	nsubj	_	_
136	planted	plant	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	130	advcl	_	_
137	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	140	det	_	_
138	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	140	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
139	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	138	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
140	flower	flower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	136	obj	_	_
141	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	143	obj	_	_
142	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	143	nsubj	_	_
143	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	140	acl:relcl	_	_
144	so	so	ADV	RB	_	145	advmod	_	_
145	pretty	pretty	ADV	RB	_	143	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
146	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	148	punct	_	_
147	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	148	nsubj	_	_
148	planted	plant	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
149	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	148	obj	_	_
150	with	with	ADP	IN	_	153	case	_	_
151	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	153	nmod:poss	_	_
152	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	153	amod	_	_
153	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	148	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
154	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	156	punct	_	_
155	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	156	cc	_	_
156	pressed	press	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	parataxis	_	_
157	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	158	det	_	_
158	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	156	obj	_	_
159	around	around	ADP	IN	_	160	case	_	_
160	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	156	obl	_	_
161	with	with	ADP	IN	_	163	case	_	_
162	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	163	nmod:poss	_	_
163	fingers	finger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	156	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
164	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rail** | gerund | a large iron *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with a iron door | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | past | iron |  |  |  | before the garden | splendid *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent before garden=Theme |
| 3 | **stand** | past | people |  |  |  | still |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **peep** | past | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **hang** | participle |  | the sparrows *not said here* |  | the vine |  | by scores | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by score=Location |
| 6 | **chatter away** | past | the sparrows |  |  |  |  | at each; away, well *property* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Agent at each=Stimulus |
| 7 | **not** **is** | past | iron |  |  |  |  | about the old house | tree rules |
| 8 | **not** **remember** | could | sparrows *= sparrow* | house |  |  |  | a clever man  a pleasure to boy's parents *obl* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 9 | **pass** | past · perfect · passive |  | many years |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory |
| 10 | **grow up** | past · perfect | the little boy |  |  |  |  | to a whole man | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 11 | **marry** | past · perfect · passive |  | boy |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 12 | **come** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | with boy's little wife; together *property* | tree rules |
| 13 | **live** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the house; here |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in house=Location |
| 14 | **is a** | past |  | the garden |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 15 | **stand** | past | garden |  |  | there |  | by wife | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by she=Location |
| 16 | **plant** | past | grapevine | a field flower |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flower=Patient |
| 17 | **find** | past | grapevine | a field flower |  |  |  | pretty *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Topic |
| 18 | **plant** | past | grapevine | house |  |  |  | with grapevine's little hand | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient with hand=Instrument |
| 19 | **press** | past |  | the earth |  | house |  | with grapevine's fingers | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent earth=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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