--- title: They took him forth, but when they should have killed him, they coul… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: They took him forth, but when they should have killed him, they could not do it for pity, and let him go, and they cut the eyes and tongue out of a deer that they might carry them to the old man as a token. Who acts: people, father. A sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Three Langu --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/41/16/) [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 Three Languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/41/) / 16 # Grimms' Fairy Tales, The Three Languages, sentence 16 They took him forth, but when they should have killed him, they could not do it for pity, and let him go, and they cut the eyes and tongue out of a deer that they might carry them to the old man as a token. **Who acts:** people, father · **What happens:** take, kill, not do, let, go, cut · **To what, where:** father, people, forest, eyes, deer, old man This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Three Languages. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, father), 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:pg2591:41:16 # text = They took him forth, but when they should have killed him, they could not do it for pity, and let him go, and they cut the eyes and tongue out of a deer that they might carry them to the old man as a token. 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 obj _ _ 4 forth forth ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 6 but but CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 7 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 11 advmod _ _ 8 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj:pass _ _ 9 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 10 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 11 aux _ _ 11 killed kill VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 conj _ _ 12 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 14 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 15 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 16 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 17 advmod _ _ 17 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 parataxis _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 obj _ _ 19 for for ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 pity pity NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 23 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 conj _ _ 24 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 obj _ _ 25 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 28 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 29 cut cut VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obj _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 33 tongue tongue NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 conj _ _ 34 out out ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 35 of of ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 deer deer NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obl _ _ 38 that that SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 39 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 40 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 41 aux _ _ 41 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 advcl _ _ 42 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 obj _ _ 43 to to ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 45 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 amod _ _ 46 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ _ 47 as as ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 48 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 token token NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past | people | | father | | | forth *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination | | 2 | **kill** | should · perfect · passive | | people | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer he=Result | | 3 | **not** **do** | could | people | forest | | | | for pity | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality | | 4 | **let** | infinitive | people *not said here* | father | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **go** | infinitive | father *not said here* | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **cut** | past | people | the eyes and tongue | | a deer | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset eye=Product | | 7 | **carry** | might | people | eyes *= eye* | the old man | | | as a token | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Theme to man=Destination | 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 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/41/15/) - next →: [sentence 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/41/17/) - ↑ back to [The Three Languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/41/)