---
title: This way was all very well in olden times--when there was only one d… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics
description: This way was all very well in olden times--when there was only one dragon and one Princess; but now there were far more dragons than Princesses--although the Royal Family was a large one. Who acts: way, Royal Family. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 5, with its depende
---

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# The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 5, sentence 78

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This way was all very well in olden times--when there was only one dragon and one Princess; but now there were far more dragons than Princesses--although the Royal Family was a large one.

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**Who acts:** way, Royal Family · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** one dragon, more dragons, large one

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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 (way, Royal Family), 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:pg23661:5:78
# text = This way was all very well in olden times--when there was only one dragon and one Princess; but now there were far more dragons than Princesses--although the Royal Family was a large one.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	9	det	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	fixed	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	olden	olden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
12	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	13	expl	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	only	only	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nummod	_	_
16	dragon	dragon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	19	nummod	_	_
19	Princess	princess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	27	punct	_	_
21	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	24	advmod	_	_
23	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	24	expl	_	_
24	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
25	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	26	advmod	_	_
26	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	27	amod	_	_
27	dragons	dragon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	conj	_	_
28	than	than	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	Princesses	princess	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
33	Royal	Royal	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	Family	Family	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	38	nsubj	_	_
35	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	cop	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
37	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | this way | one dragon and one Princess and more dragons |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | this way *not said here* | more dragons |  |  |  | than Princesses | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | past | the Royal Family | a large one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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