--- title: It happened to be a Wednesday, so when the Princess's friends were a… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: It happened to be a Wednesday, so when the Princess's friends were asked what they would like to do, all the little dukes and marquises and earls said, "Let's go and see the dragon." Who acts: It, friends, little dukes, 's. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 4, with its --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/3/) [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/) / [The Book of Dragons](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/) / [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/) / 3 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 4, sentence 3 It happened to be a Wednesday, so when the Princess's friends were asked what they would like to do, all the little dukes and marquises and earls said, "Let's go and see the dragon." **Who acts:** It, friends, little dukes, 's · **What happens:** happen, be, ask, like, do, say · **To what, where:** Wednesday, friends, 's, dragon · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, friends, little dukes, 's), 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:pg23661:4:3 # text = It happened to be a Wednesday, so when the Princess's friends were asked what they would like to do, all the little dukes and marquises and earls said, "Let's go and see the dragon." 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 4 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 6 cop _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 Wednesday Wednesday PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 8 so so ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 9 when when SCONJ WRB _ 15 mark _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 Princess Princess PROPN NNP Number=Sing 13 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 12 's 's PART POS _ 11 case _ _ 13 friends friend NOUN NNS Number=Plur 15 nsubj:pass _ _ 14 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 aux:pass _ _ 15 asked ask VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 31 advcl _ _ 16 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 19 obj _ _ 17 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ _ 19 like like VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 ccomp _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 23 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 26 det:predet _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 25 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 amod _ _ 26 dukes duke NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 nsubj _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 marquises marquis NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 conj _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 30 earls earl NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 conj _ _ 31 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 33 " " PUNCT `` _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 34 Let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 35 's we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 xcomp _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 conj _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 dragon dragon NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 42 " " PUNCT '' _ 34 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **happen** | past | It | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **is a** | to-infinitive | | a Wednesday | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past · passive | | the Princess's friends | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic | | 4 | **like** | would | friends *= friend* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | friends *= friend* *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | all little dukes and marquises and earls | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive | | 's | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **go** *in a quote* | infinitive | 's *not said here* | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **see** *in a quote* | infinitive | 's *not said here* | the dragon | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer dragon=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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/4/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/)