---
title: Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interloper… — Peter Pan · tree and pragmatics
description: Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers, and were not above taking an idea from them; for John introduced a new way of hitting the bubble, with the head instead of the hand, and the mermaids adopted it. Who acts: we, mermaids, John, new way. A sentence of «Peter Pan» by
---

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# Peter Pan, Chapter VIII. THE MERMAIDS’ LAGOON, sentence 15

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Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers, and were not above taking an idea from them; for John introduced a new way of hitting the bubble, with the head instead of the hand, and the mermaids adopted it.

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**Who acts:** we, mermaids, John, new way · **What happens:** have, watch, not take, introduce, hit, adopt · **To what, where:** proof, interlopers, idea, new way, bubble, way

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This is a sentence of «Peter Pan» by J. M. Barrie, Chapter VIII. THE MERMAIDS’ LAGOON. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (we, mermaids, John, new way), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg16:9:15
# text = Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers, and were not above taking an idea from them; for John introduced a new way of hitting the bubble, with the head instead of the hand, and the mermaids adopted it.
1	Nevertheless	nevertheless	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	watched	watch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	interlopers	interloper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
15	above	above	ADP	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
16	taking	take	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
17	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	from	from	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	John	John	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
24	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
28	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
29	hitting	hit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	acl	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	bubble	bubble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
33	with	with	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
36	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	39	case	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	fixed	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	mermaids	mermaid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	nsubj	_	_
44	adopted	adopt	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
45	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | we | proof |  |  |  | nevertheless *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent proof=Patient |
| 2 | **watch** | past | mermaids *= mermaid* | the interlopers |  |  |  | secretly *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent interloper=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **take** | past · progressive | mermaids *= mermaid* *not said here* | a idea |  |  |  | from mermaids *= mermaid* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent idea=Theme from they=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **introduce** | past | John | a new way |  |  |  | with the head instead the hand | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent way=Patient with head=Instrument |
| 5 | **hit** | gerund | a new way *not said here* | the bubble |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme bubble=Co-Theme |
| 6 | **adopt** | past | the mermaids | way |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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.

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**Text:** «Peter Pan» by J. M. Barrie, Project Gutenberg book 16 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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