---
title: The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just as they like… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just as they liked, but the youngest was always obliged to give way to his brothers. Who acts: parents, eldest, men. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 21, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics 
---

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# The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 21, sentence 93

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The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just as they liked, but the youngest was always obliged to give way to his brothers.

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**Who acts:** parents, eldest, men · **What happens:** allow, do, like, oblige, give · **To what, where:** eldest, youngest, way, brothers

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This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 21. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (parents, eldest, men), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg2435:21:93
# text = The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just as they liked, but the youngest was always obliged to give way to his brothers.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nsubj	_	_
3	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
11	just	just	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	liked	like	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	21	nsubj	_	_
19	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
20	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	21	advmod	_	_
21	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
25	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **allow** | past · passive | men's parents | eldest |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | eldest *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **like** | past | men *= man* |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 4 | **oblige** | past · passive |  | the youngest |  |  |  | always *property* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 5 | **give** | to-infinitive |  | way | king's brothers |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent way=Theme to brother=Recipient |

<!-- .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 Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 2435 (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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