--- title: The fairy spears of light twinkled and gleamed: They were much prett… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: The fairy spears of light twinkled and gleamed: They were much prettier than the big, blaring, blazing bonfire that was smoking and flaming and spluttering in the next-door-but-one garden--prettier even than the colored fires at the Crystal Palace. Who acts: fairy spears, bonfire. A sentence of «The --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/7/52/) [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 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/7/) / 52 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 7, sentence 52 The fairy spears of light twinkled and gleamed: They were much prettier than the big, blaring, blazing bonfire that was smoking and flaming and spluttering in the next-door-but-one garden--prettier even than the colored fires at the Crystal Palace. **Who acts:** fairy spears, bonfire · **What happens:** twinkle, gleam, be, blare, blaze, smoke · **To what, where:** light, bonfire, next door This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (fairy spears, bonfire), 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:pg23661:7:52 # text = The fairy spears of light twinkled and gleamed: They were much prettier than the big, blaring, blazing bonfire that was smoking and flaming and spluttering in the next-door-but-one garden--prettier even than the colored fires at the Crystal Palace. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 fairy fairy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 spears spear NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 nsubj _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 light light NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ 6 twinkled twinkle VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 acl _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 gleamed gleam VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 6 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 : : PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 10 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 11 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 cop _ _ 12 much much ADV RB _ 13 advmod _ _ 13 prettier pretty ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 0 root _ _ 14 than than ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 big big ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 18 blaring blare VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 16 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 20 blazing blaze VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 18 conj _ _ 21 bonfire bonfire NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obj _ _ 22 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 24 nsubj _ _ 23 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 aux _ _ 24 smoking smoke VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 acl:relcl _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 flaming flame VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 24 conj _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 spluttering splutter VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 18 conj _ _ 29 in in ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 31 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 33 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 32 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 31 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 33 door door NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 34 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 40 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 35 but but CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 36 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 35 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 37 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 38 nummod _ _ 38 garden garden NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 -- -- PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 prettier pretty ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 33 conj _ _ 41 even even ADV RB _ 45 advmod _ _ 42 than than ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 43 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 44 colored colored ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 45 amod _ _ 45 fires fire NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 obl _ _ 46 at at ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 48 Crystal Crystal PROPN NNP Number=Sing 49 compound _ _ 49 Palace Palace PROPN NNP Number=Sing 45 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **twinkle** | participle | | light *not said here* | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **gleam** | participle | | | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **is** | past | the fairy spears of light | | | | | pretty *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **be** | | the fairy spears of light *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **blare** | gerund | the fairy spears of light *not said here* | | | | | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **blaze** | gerund | the fairy spears of light *not said here* | bonfire | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent bonfire=Theme | | 7 | **smoke** | past · progressive | bonfire | | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **flame** | gerund | bonfire *not said here* | | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **splutter** | gerund | the fairy spears of light *not said here* | | | the next door | | than the colored fires at the Crystal Palace | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in door=Location | 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 51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/7/51/) - next →: [sentence 53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/7/53/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/7/)