--- title: So the sparrow perched upon the shelf: and having first looked caref… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: So the sparrow perched upon the shelf: and having first looked carefully about her to see if anyone was watching her, she pecked and scratched at a steak that lay upon the edge of the shelf, till at last down it fell. Who acts: sparrow, having, anyone, steak. A sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by J --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/9/7/) [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 Dog and the Sparrow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/9/) / 7 # Grimms' Fairy Tales, The Dog and the Sparrow, sentence 7 So the sparrow perched upon the shelf: and having first looked carefully about her to see if anyone was watching her, she pecked and scratched at a steak that lay upon the edge of the shelf, till at last down it fell. **Who acts:** sparrow, having, anyone, steak, shelf · **What happens:** perch, have, look, see, watch, peck · **To what, where:** shelf, sparrow, edge This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The Dog and the Sparrow. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sparrow, having, anyone, steak), 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:pg2591:9:7 # text = So the sparrow perched upon the shelf: and having first looked carefully about her to see if anyone was watching her, she pecked and scratched at a steak that lay upon the edge of the shelf, till at last down it fell. 1 So so ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 sparrow sparrow NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 perched perch VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 upon upon ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 shelf shelf NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 : : PUNCT : _ 12 punct _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 10 having have VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 12 csubj _ _ 11 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 10 advmod _ _ 12 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 13 carefully carefully ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 14 about about ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 obl _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 advcl _ _ 18 if if SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 19 anyone anyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 21 nsubj _ _ 20 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 21 watching watch VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 advcl _ _ 22 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 24 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 pecked peck VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 parataxis _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 27 scratched scratch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 28 at at ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 steak steak NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 31 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 32 lay lie VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 acl:relcl _ _ 33 upon upon ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 edge edge NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ _ 36 of of ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 shelf shelf NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 40 till till ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 at at ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 conj _ _ 43 down down ADP IN _ 45 mark _ _ 44 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 45 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **perch** | participle | the sparrow | | | the shelf | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon shelf=Location | | 2 | **have** | gerund | | | | | | first *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **look** | past | having | | | | | about sparrow; carefully *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent about she=Theme | | 4 | **see** | to-infinitive | having *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **watch** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · progressive | anyone | sparrow | | | | | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Theme | | 6 | **peck** | past | sparrow | | | | | | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **scratch** | past | sparrow *not said here* | | | | | at a steak | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at steak=Patient | | 8 | **lie** | past | a steak | | | the edge of the shelf | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon edge=Location | | 9 | **fall** | past | shelf | | | | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/9/6/) - next →: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/9/8/) - ↑ back to [The Dog and the Sparrow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/9/)