--- title: But we might give the ants a commission to look out for us; they run… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: But we might give the ants a commission to look out for us; they run to and fro as if they had something to do, and they certainly know of a wife for our little snail!” Who acts: we, snails. A sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Happy Family, with its dependency tree and the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/36/) [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 Happy Family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/) / 36 # Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Happy Family, sentence 36 But we might give the ants a commission to look out for us; they run to and fro as if they had something to do, and they certainly know of a wife for our little snail!” **Who acts:** we, snails · **What happens:** give, look out, run, fro, have, do · **To what, where:** ants, something This is a sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Happy Family. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (we, snails), 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:pg1597:20:36 # text = But we might give the ants a commission to look out for us; they run to and fro as if they had something to do, and they certainly know of a wife for our little snail!” 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 2 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 ants ant NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 iobj _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 commission commission NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod:unmarked _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 look look VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 11 out out ADP RP _ 10 compound:prt _ _ 12 for for ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 13 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ; ; PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 15 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 run run VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 fro fro VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 conj _ _ 20 as as SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 21 if if SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 22 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 23 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 ccomp _ _ 24 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 23 obj _ _ 25 to to PART TO _ 26 mark _ _ 26 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 24 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 29 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 30 certainly certainly ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ _ 31 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 35 for for ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 36 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 38 nmod:poss _ _ 37 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 38 snail snail NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 ! ! PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 ” " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **give** | might | we | | the ants a commission | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ant=Theme | | 2 | **look out** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | | | | | for us | vn caring-75.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent for we=Theme | | 3 | **run** | present | snails *= snail* | | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **fro** | infinitive | snails *= snail* *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | snails *= snail* | something | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Patient | | 6 | **do** | to-infinitive | snails *= snail* *not said here* | something *not said here* | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **know** | present | snails *= snail* | | | | | of a wife for our little snail; certainly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of wife=Stimulus | 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: [sentence 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/35/) - next →: [sentence 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/37/) - ↑ back to [The Happy Family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/)