---
title: The ones that were as large as pigeons would get into workbaskets or… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics
description: The ones that were as large as pigeons would get into workbaskets or corner drawers and bite you when you were in a hurry to get a needle or a handkerchief. Who acts: ones, you. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 5, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every cl
---

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# The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 5, sentence 74

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The ones that were as large as pigeons would get into workbaskets or corner drawers and bite you when you were in a hurry to get a needle or a handkerchief.

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**Who acts:** ones, you · **What happens:** be, get, bite · **To what, where:** workbaskets, you, hurry, needle

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This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ones, you), 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:pg23661:5:74
# text = The ones that were as large as pigeons would get into workbaskets or corner drawers and bite you when you were in a hurry to get a needle or a handkerchief.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	as	as	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	pigeons	pigeon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	workbaskets	workbasket	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	corner	corner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	drawers	drawer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	bite	bite	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
18	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	24	advmod	_	_
20	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
21	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	hurry	hurry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	advcl	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
29	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	handkerchief	handkerchief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the ones |  |  |  |  | as pigeons; large *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | would | the ones |  |  | workbaskets or corner drawers |  |  | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme into workbasket=Destination |
| 3 | **bite** | present | the ones *not said here* | you |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past | you |  |  | a hurry |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **get** | to-infinitive | the ones *not said here* | a needle or a handkerchief |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer needle=Stimulus |

<!-- .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:** «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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