--- title: They tried to explain to the grouse; but though he is polite, he is… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: They tried to explain to the grouse; but though he is polite, he is not clever, and he only said: "You've got a warm nest, and we'll see that no one takes it from you. Who acts: friends, grouse, You, we. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 8, with its dependency tree and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/127/) [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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/) / 127 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 8, sentence 127 They tried to explain to the grouse; but though he is polite, he is not clever, and he only said: "You've got a warm nest, and we'll see that no one takes it from you. **Who acts:** friends, grouse, You, we, one · **What happens:** try, explain, be, not be, say, get · **To what, where:** grouse, warm nest, nest · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (friends, grouse, You, we), 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:pg23661:8:127 # text = They tried to explain to the grouse; but though he is polite, he is not clever, and he only said: "You've got a warm nest, and we'll see that no one takes it from you. 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 4 explain explain VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 xcomp _ _ 5 to to ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 grouse grouse NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ; ; PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 9 but but CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 10 though though SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 11 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 13 cop _ _ 13 polite polite ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 16 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 cop _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 18 advmod _ _ 18 clever clever ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 only only ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 : : PUNCT : _ 28 punct _ _ 25 " " PUNCT `` _ 28 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 26 You you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 've have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 28 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 23 ccomp _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 30 warm warm ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 nest nest NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 34 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 'll will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 36 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 parataxis _ _ 37 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 38 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 39 det _ _ 39 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nsubj _ _ 40 takes take VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 36 ccomp _ _ 41 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 from from ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **try** | past | friends *= friend* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **explain** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | friends *= friend* *not said here* | | the grouse | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to grouse=Recipient | | 3 | **is** | present | grouse | | | | | polite *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **not** **is** | present | grouse | | | | | clever *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | grouse | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **get** *in a quote* | present · perfect | You | a warm nest | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer nest=Stimulus | | 7 | **see** *in a quote* | future | we | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 8 | **take** *in a quote* | present | no one | nest | | | | from you | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent it=Theme from you=Initial\_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 126](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/126/) - next →: [sentence 128](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/128/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/)