--- title: You had better say nothing about this to our father, for he does not… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: You had better say nothing about this to our father, for he does not believe a word you say; and if you tell tales, you shall lose your life into the bargain: but be quiet, and we will let you off.’ Who acts: You, father, we. A sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Water of Life, wit --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/49/59/) [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 Water of Life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/49/) / 59 # Grimms' Fairy Tales, The Water of Life, sentence 59 You had better say nothing about this to our father, for he does not believe a word you say; and if you tell tales, you shall lose your life into the bargain: but be quiet, and we will let you off.’ **Who acts:** You, father, we · **What happens:** have, say, not believe, tell, lose, be · **To what, where:** nothing, father, word, tales, life, bargain · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Water of Life. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (You, father, we), 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:pg2591:49:59 # text = You had better say nothing about this to our father, for he does not believe a word you say; and if you tell tales, you shall lose your life into the bargain: but be quiet, and we will let you off.’ 1 You you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 2 xcomp _ _ 4 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 xcomp _ _ 5 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 4 obj _ _ 6 about about ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 5 nmod _ _ 8 to to ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ _ 10 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 12 for for SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 13 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 14 does do AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 15 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 16 advmod _ _ 16 believe believe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 conj _ _ 17 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ _ 19 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 20 say say VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 23 if if SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 24 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 tell tell VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 30 advcl _ _ 26 tales tale NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 28 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 lose lose VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 parataxis _ _ 31 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 32 life life NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ _ 33 into into ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 bargain bargain NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 : : PUNCT : _ 39 punct _ _ 37 but but CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 38 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 39 cop _ _ 39 quiet quiet ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 42 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 43 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 44 aux _ _ 44 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 conj _ _ 45 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 44 obj _ _ 46 off off ADP RP _ 44 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 39 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 48 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | You | | | | | good *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | You *not said here* | nothing | our father | | | about this | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic to father=Recipient | | 3 | **not** **believe** | present · do-support | father | a word | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | you | a word *not said here* | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic | | 5 | **tell** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | tales | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent tale=Recipient | | 6 | **lose** | shall | you | your life | | the bargain | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Eventuality | | 7 | **is** | infinitive | | | | | | quiet *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **let off** | future | we | you | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme | 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 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/49/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/49/60/) - ↑ back to [The Water of Life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/49/)