---
title: They went faster and faster, and the lights ahead grew brighter and… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics
description: They went faster and faster, and the lights ahead grew brighter and brighter--so that they could not keep their eyes open, but had to blink and wink as they went--and then suddenly the great slide ended in an immense heap of snow, and George and Jane shot right into it because they could not stop th
---

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[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/8/28/)

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# The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 8, sentence 28

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They went faster and faster, and the lights ahead grew brighter and brighter--so that they could not keep their eyes open, but had to blink and wink as they went--and then suddenly the great slide ended in an immense heap of snow, and George and Jane shot right into it because they could not stop themselves, and the snow was soft, so that they went in up to their very ears.

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**Who acts:** moth, lights, great slide, George, snow · **What happens:** go, grow, not keep, have, blink, wink · **To what, where:** eyes, immense heap, slide, moth

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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 (moth, lights, great slide, George), 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:pg23661:8:28
# text = They went faster and faster, and the lights ahead grew brighter and brighter--so that they could not keep their eyes open, but had to blink and wink as they went--and then suddenly the great slide ended in an immense heap of snow, and George and Jane shot right into it because they could not stop themselves, and the snow was soft, so that they went in up to their very ears.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	faster	fast	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
10	ahead	ahead	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	grew	grow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	brighter	bright	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	xcomp	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	brighter	bright	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	21	mark	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	fixed	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
22	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obj	_	_
24	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	blink	blink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	xcomp	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	wink	wink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
32	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
33	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
37	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	42	advmod	_	_
38	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	slide	slide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	_
42	ended	end	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
43	in	in	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
44	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
45	immense	immense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	46	amod	_	_
46	heap	heap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
48	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
51	George	George	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	54	nsubj	_	_
52	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	53	cc	_	_
53	Jane	Jane	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	51	conj	_	_
54	shot	shoot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
55	right	right	ADV	RB	_	57	advmod	_	_
56	into	into	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
57	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	54	obl	_	_
58	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	62	mark	_	_
59	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	62	nsubj	_	_
60	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	62	aux	_	_
61	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	62	advmod	_	_
62	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	advcl	_	_
63	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	62	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	69	punct	_	_
65	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	69	cc	_	_
66	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
67	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	69	nsubj	_	_
68	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	69	cop	_	_
69	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	54	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	74	punct	_	_
71	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	74	mark	_	_
72	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	71	fixed	_	_
73	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	74	nsubj	_	_
74	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	54	conj	_	_
75	in	in	ADV	RB	_	74	advmod	_	_
76	up	up	ADV	RB	_	74	advmod	_	_
77	to	to	ADP	IN	_	80	case	_	_
78	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	80	nmod:poss	_	_
79	very	very	ADV	RB	_	80	advmod	_	_
80	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	74	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
81	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | moth |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **grow** | past | the lights |  |  |  |  | ahead, bright *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **keep** | could | moth | moth's eyes |  |  |  | open *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eye=Theme |
| 4 | **have** | past | moth *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **blink** | to-infinitive | moth *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn hiccup-40.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **wink** | infinitive | moth *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **go** | past | moth |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **end** | past | the great slide |  |  | a immense heap of snow | then |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 9 | **shoot** | past | George and Jane |  |  | slide |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent into it=Destination |
| 10 | **not** **stop** | could | moth | moth |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality themselves=Eventuality |
| 11 | **is** | past | the snow |  |  |  |  | soft *property* | tree rules |
| 12 | **go up** | past | moth |  |  |  |  | to moth's ears | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

<!-- .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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