--- title: “It is the best thing I have ever heard,” answered the fox; and as t… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: “It is the best thing I have ever heard,” answered the fox; and as they were two to one the bear had to be content, though in his heart he would much have preferred a good dinner at once to any friendship. Who acts: plan, fox, thoughts, bear. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/24/50/) [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 Crimson Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/) / [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/24/) / 50 # The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 24, sentence 50 “It is the best thing I have ever heard,” answered the fox; and as they were two to one the bear had to be content, though in his heart he would much have preferred a good dinner at once to any friendship. **Who acts:** plan, fox, thoughts, bear · **What happens:** be, hear, answer, have, prefer, dinner · **To what, where:** best thing, heart · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 24. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (plan, fox, thoughts, bear), 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:pg2435:24:50 # text = “It is the best thing I have ever heard,” answered the fox; and as they were two to one the bear had to be content, though in his heart he would much have preferred a good dinner at once to any friendship. 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 3 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 6 amod _ _ 6 thing thing NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj _ _ 7 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 8 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 9 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 10 advmod _ _ 10 heard hear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 6 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 12 ” " PUNCT '' _ 6 punct _ _ 13 answered answer VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 fox fox NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 ; ; PUNCT : _ 26 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 18 as as ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 19 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 20 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 21 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 23 nummod _ _ 22 to to ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 26 obl _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 bear bear NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nsubj _ _ 26 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 conj _ _ 27 to to PART TO _ 29 mark _ _ 28 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 29 cop _ _ 29 content content ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 31 though though SCONJ IN _ 42 mark _ _ 32 in in ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nmod:poss _ _ 34 heart heart NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 36 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 37 much much ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 38 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 39 aux _ _ 39 preferred prefer VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 42 amod _ _ 40 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 41 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 42 amod _ _ 42 dinner dinner NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ _ 43 at at ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 44 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 26 obl _ _ 45 to to ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 47 det _ _ 47 friendship friendship NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | plan | the best thing | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **hear** *in a quote* | present · perfect | the fox *= fox* | the best thing *not said here* | | | ever | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus | | 3 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | the fox | | | | | | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is** | past | thoughts *= thought* | | | | | as two one | tree rules | | 5 | **have** | past | the bear | | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **is** | to-infinitive | the bear *not said here* | | | | | content *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **prefer** | infinitive · perfect | | | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | | 8 | **dinner** | would | bear | | | bear's heart | | | tree rules | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 49](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/24/49/) - next →: [sentence 51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/24/51/) - ↑ back to [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/24/)