--- title: The dragon went very fast, only stopping to eat the collector and th… — The Book of Dragons · tree and pragmatics description: The dragon went very fast, only stopping to eat the collector and the sportsman, who were still struggling to go up the slide--vainly, because they had no tails, and had never even heard of the fourth dimension. Who acts: dragon, collector. A sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/9/44/) [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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/9/) / 44 # The Book of Dragons, Opening, part 9, sentence 44 The dragon went very fast, only stopping to eat the collector and the sportsman, who were still struggling to go up the slide--vainly, because they had no tails, and had never even heard of the fourth dimension. **Who acts:** dragon, collector · **What happens:** go, stop, eat, struggle, go up, have · **To what, where:** collector, slide, tails This is a sentence of «The Book of Dragons» by E. Nesbit, Opening, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (dragon, collector), 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:pg23661:9:44 # text = The dragon went very fast, only stopping to eat the collector and the sportsman, who were still struggling to go up the slide--vainly, because they had no tails, and had never even heard of the fourth dimension. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 dragon dragon NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 very very ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 fast fast ADV RB Degree=Pos 3 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 only only ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 stopping stop VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 eat eat VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 xcomp _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 collector collector NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obj _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 sportsman sportsman NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 17 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 20 nsubj _ _ 18 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 19 still still ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 20 struggling struggle VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 12 conj _ _ 21 to to PART TO _ 22 mark _ _ 22 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 20 xcomp _ _ 23 up up ADP RP _ 22 compound:prt _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 slide slide NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 -- -- PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 27 vainly vainly ADV RB _ 22 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 29 because because SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 30 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 advcl _ _ 32 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 33 det _ _ 33 tails tail NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 36 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 37 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 39 advmod _ _ 38 even even ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 heard hear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 parataxis _ _ 40 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 42 fourth fourth ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 43 amod _ _ 43 dimension dimension NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go** | past | the dragon | | | | | fast *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **stop** | gerund | the dragon *not said here* | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **eat** | to-infinitive | the dragon *not said here* | the collector and the sportsman | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent collector=Patient | | 4 | **struggle** | past · progressive | the collector and the sportsman | | | | still | | tree rules | | 5 | **go up** | to-infinitive | the collector and the sportsman *not said here* | the slide | | | | vainly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient slide=Extent | | 6 | **have** | past | collector | no tails | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Patient | | 7 | **not** **hear** | past · perfect | | | | | | of the fourth dimension | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of dimension=Stimulus | 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 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/9/43/) - next →: [sentence 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/9/45/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg23661/9/)