--- title: ‘I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do,’ said the… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: ‘I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do,’ said the soldier; ‘but I think I should like very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in time I might be a king.’ Who acts: I, soldier. A sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Twelve Dancing Princ --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/10/11/) [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/) / [Grimms' Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/) / [The Twelve Dancing Princesses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/10/) / 11 # Grimms' Fairy Tales, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, sentence 11 ‘I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do,’ said the soldier; ‘but I think I should like very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in time I might be a king.’ **Who acts:** I, soldier · **What happens:** know, go, have, say, think, like · **To what, where:** better do, soldier, king · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, soldier), 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:pg2591:10:11 # text = ‘I hardly know where I am going, or what I had better do,’ said the soldier; ‘but I think I should like very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then in time I might be a king.’ 1 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 hardly hardly ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 ccomp _ _ 5 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 8 advmod _ _ 6 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 7 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 10 or or CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 what what PRON WP PronType=Rel 8 obl _ _ 12 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 13 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 acl:relcl _ _ 14 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 15 amod _ _ 15 do do NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 17 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 18 punct _ _ 18 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 soldier soldier NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 22 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 23 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 23 but but CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 24 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 think think VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 conj _ _ 26 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 27 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 28 like like VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 ccomp _ _ 29 very very ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 28 advmod _ _ 31 to to PART TO _ 32 mark _ _ 32 find find VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 xcomp _ _ 33 out out ADP RP _ 32 compound:prt _ _ 34 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 40 advmod _ _ 35 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 36 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 40 cop _ _ 37 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 39 princesses princess NOUN NNS Number=Plur 40 nsubj _ _ 40 dance dance VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 32 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 43 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 50 advmod _ _ 44 in in ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 45 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obl _ _ 46 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 50 nsubj _ _ 47 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 48 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 50 cop _ _ 49 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 50 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 18 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 52 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 18 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **know** | present | I | | | | | hardly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 2 | **go** | present · progressive | I | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **have** | past | I | better do | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent do=Patient | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | | the soldier | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **think** *speech: other* | present | I | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 6 | **like** | should | I | | | | | well *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 7 | **find out** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | | | | | | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **is** | present | soldier | | | | | dance *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **is a** | might | I | a king | | | then; time | | 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:** «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, Project Gutenberg book 2591 (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 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/10/10/) - next →: [sentence 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/10/12/) - ↑ back to [The Twelve Dancing Princesses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/10/)