--- title: The matter of which it was built was just as soft, and formed simila… — Andersen's Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The matter of which it was built was just as soft, and formed similar towers, and domes, and pillars, transparent and rocking in the thin air; while above his head our earth was rolling like a large fiery ball. Who acts: matter, earth. A sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Sh --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/6/102/) [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 Shoes of Fortune, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/6/) / 102 # Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Shoes of Fortune, part 2, sentence 102 The matter of which it was built was just as soft, and formed similar towers, and domes, and pillars, transparent and rocking in the thin air; while above his head our earth was rolling like a large fiery ball. **Who acts:** matter, earth · **What happens:** build, be, form, rock, roll · **To what, where:** matter, similar towers, thin air, head This is a sentence of «Andersen's Fairy Tales» by H. C. Andersen, The Shoes of Fortune, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (matter, earth), 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:pg1597:6:102 # text = The matter of which it was built was just as soft, and formed similar towers, and domes, and pillars, transparent and rocking in the thin air; while above his head our earth was rolling like a large fiery ball. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 7 obl _ _ 5 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj:pass _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 aux:pass _ _ 7 built build VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 acl:relcl _ _ 8 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 cop _ _ 9 just just ADV RB _ 11 advmod _ _ 10 as as ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 soft soft ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 formed form VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 conj _ _ 15 similar similar ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 16 towers tower NOUN NNS Number=Plur 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 domes dome NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 pillars pillar NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 24 transparent transparent ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 parataxis _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 rocking rock VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 24 conj _ _ 27 in in ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 29 thin thin ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 30 amod _ _ 30 air air NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ; ; PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 32 while while SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 33 above above ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 36 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 37 earth earth NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ _ 38 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 39 rolling roll VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 14 advcl _ _ 40 like like ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 41 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 42 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 43 fiery fiery ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 ball ball NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 11 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **build** | past · passive | | matter | | | | of the matter | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product | | 2 | **is** | past | the matter | | | | | soft *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **form** | past | the matter *not said here* | similar towers and domes and pillars | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **rock** | gerund | the matter *not said here* | | | the thin air | | | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in air=Location | | 5 | **roll** | past · progressive | our earth | | | glass's head | | like a large fiery ball | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme above head=Trajectory | 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 101](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/6/101/) - next →: [sentence 103](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/6/103/) - ↑ back to [The Shoes of Fortune, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg1597/6/)