---
title: There they saw the dragons running all sorts of ways like ants if yo… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics
description: There they saw the dragons running all sorts of ways like ants if you are cruel enough to pour water into an ant-heap, which, of course, you never are. Who acts: dragons, you. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 6, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 6, sentence 99

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There they saw the dragons running all sorts of ways like ants if you are cruel enough to pour water into an ant-heap, which, of course, you never are.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** dragons, you · **What happens:** see, run, be, pour, not be, sort · **To what, where:** dragons, sorts, water, ant heap, ways

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (dragons, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg23661:6:99
# text = There they saw the dragons running all sorts of ways like ants if you are cruel enough to pour water into an ant-heap, which, of course, you never are.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	dragons	dragon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	running	run	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	sorts	sort	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	ways	way	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	like	like	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	ants	ant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	cruel	cruel	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
17	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	pour	pour	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
20	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
21	into	into	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
22	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
23	ant	ant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	heap	heap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
27	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADV	27	advmod	_	_
30	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
32	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
33	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
34	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | dragons *= dragon* | the dragons |  | there |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer dragon=Stimulus |
| 2 | **run** | gerund | the dragons *not said here* | all sorts of ways like ants |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme sort=Trajectory |
| 3 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you |  |  |  |  | cruel, enough *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **pour** | to-infinitive | dragons *= dragon* *not said here* | water |  | a ant heap |  |  | vn pour-9.5 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent water=Theme into heap=Destination |
| 5 | **not** **does** | present | you | a ant heap |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot which=Theme |
| 6 | **sort** |  |  | ways like ants |  |  |  |  | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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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