--- title: This sort of hide-and-seek amused people at first, but by-and-by it… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: This sort of hide-and-seek amused people at first, but by-and-by it began to get on their nerves: and if you don't know what that means, ask Mother to tell you next time you are playing blind man's buff when she has a headache. Who acts: sort, you, that, animal. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» b --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/36/) [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/) / 36 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 4, sentence 36 This sort of hide-and-seek amused people at first, but by-and-by it began to get on their nerves: and if you don't know what that means, ask Mother to tell you next time you are playing blind man's buff when she has a headache. **Who acts:** sort, you, that, animal · **What happens:** seek, begin, get, not know, mean, ask · **To what, where:** amused people, nerves, Mother, you, buff, headache · **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 (sort, you, that, animal), 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:pg23661:4:36 # text = This sort of hide-and-seek amused people at first, but by-and-by it began to get on their nerves: and if you don't know what that means, ask Mother to tell you next time you are playing blind man's buff when she has a headache. 1 This this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 2 det _ _ 2 sort sort NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 3 of of ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 hide hide NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 5 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 7 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 8 seek seek VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 9 amused amused ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obj _ _ 11 at at ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 8 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 14 but but CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 15 by by SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ SpaceAfter=No 16 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 21 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 18 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 19 by by SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 20 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 21 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 parataxis _ _ 22 to to PART TO _ 23 mark _ _ 23 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 xcomp _ _ 24 on on ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 26 nmod:poss _ _ 26 nerves nerve NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 : : PUNCT : _ 38 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 29 if if SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 30 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 31 do do AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 32 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 33 advmod _ _ 33 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 advcl _ _ 34 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 36 obj _ _ 35 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 36 nsubj _ _ 36 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 33 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 38 ask ask VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 21 parataxis _ _ 39 Mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 41 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 xcomp _ _ 42 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 41 iobj _ _ 43 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obj _ _ 45 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 47 nsubj _ _ 46 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 47 playing play VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 44 acl:relcl _ _ 48 blind blind ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 amod _ _ 49 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 50 's 's PART POS _ 49 case _ _ 51 buff buff NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obj _ _ 52 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 54 advmod _ _ 53 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 54 has have VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 41 advcl _ _ 55 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 56 det _ _ 56 headache headache NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 57 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **seek** | infinitive | this sort of hide | amused people | | | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent people=Theme at first=Location | | 2 | **begin** | past | sort | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **get** | to-infinitive | sort *not said here* | | | people's nerves | | | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent on nerve=Source | | 4 | **not** **know** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · do-support | you | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 5 | **mean** | present | that | | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic | | 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | infinitive | | | Mother | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent mother=Recipient clause=Topic | | 7 | **tell** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | | you | | time | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient | | 8 | **play** | present · progressive | you | blind man's buff | | | | | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent buff=Theme | | 9 | **have** | present | animal | a headache | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent headache=Patient | | 10 | **sort** | | | hide | | | | | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient | 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 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/35/) - next →: [sentence 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/37/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/4/)