---
title: Then he tried to do the sum by algebra, by simple and by quadratic e… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics
description: Then he tried to do the sum by algebra, by simple and by quadratic equations, by trigonometry, by logarithms, and by conic sections. Who acts: Nigel. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 10, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 10, sentence 127

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Then he tried to do the sum by algebra, by simple and by quadratic equations, by trigonometry, by logarithms, and by conic sections.

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**Who acts:** Nigel · **What happens:** try, do · **To what, where:** sum

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This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Nigel), 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:pg23661:10:127
# text = Then he tried to do the sum by algebra, by simple and by quadratic equations, by trigonometry, by logarithms, and by conic sections.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	algebra	algebra	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
12	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	quadratic	quadratic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	equations	equation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	trigonometry	trigonometry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	by	by	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	logarithms	logarithm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
25	by	by	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	conic	conic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	sections	section	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | Nigel |  |  |  | then | by conic sections | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Nigel *not said here* | the sum |  |  |  | by algebra; by simple quadratic equations and trigonometry and logarithms | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sum=Eventuality |

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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:** «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Project Gutenberg book 23661 (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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