--- title: The old white snails were the first persons of distinction in the wo… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The old white snails were the first persons of distinction in the world, that they knew; the forest was planted for their sake, and the manor-house was there that they might be boiled and laid on a silver dish. Who acts: old white snails, snails, manor house. A sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» b --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/9/) [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/) / 9 # Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Happy Family, sentence 9 The old white snails were the first persons of distinction in the world, that they knew; the forest was planted for their sake, and the manor-house was there that they might be boiled and laid on a silver dish. **Who acts:** old white snails, snails, manor house · **What happens:** be, know, plant, boil, lay · **To what, where:** first persons, forest, snails, silver dish · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (old white snails, snails, manor house), 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:pg1597:20:9 # text = The old white snails were the first persons of distinction in the world, that they knew; the forest was planted for their sake, and the manor-house was there that they might be boiled and laid on a silver dish. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 2 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 3 white white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 snails snail NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 nsubj _ _ 5 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 8 amod _ _ 8 persons person NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 distinction distinction NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nmod _ _ 11 in in ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 15 that that SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 16 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 18 ; ; PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 forest forest NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 nsubj:pass _ _ 21 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 aux:pass _ _ 22 planted plant VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 17 ccomp _ _ 23 for for ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 sake sake NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 29 manor manor NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 30 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 29 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 31 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 nsubj _ _ 32 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 cop _ _ 33 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 22 advmod _ _ 34 that that SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj:pass _ _ 36 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 37 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 38 aux:pass _ _ 38 boiled boil VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 33 advcl _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 40 laid lay VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 38 conj _ _ 41 on on ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 42 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 43 silver silver NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 compound _ _ 44 dish dish NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | the old white snails | the first persons | | | | of distinction in the world | tree rules | | 2 | **know** | past | snails *= snail* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 3 | **plant** | past · passive | | the forest | | | | for snails's sake | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 4 | **is** | past | the manor house | | | | | there *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **boil** | might · passive | | snails *= snail* | | | | | vn cooking-45.3 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient | | 6 | **lay** | participle | | | | a silver dish | | | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on dish=Destination | 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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/8/) - next →: [sentence 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/10/) - ↑ back to [The Happy Family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/20/)