--- title: On seeing the sparrow which the boys had brought, and which they sai… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: On seeing the sparrow which the boys had brought, and which they said they did not want, he asked, "Shall we make it look very pretty?" Who acts: boy, sparrows, we, soap. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Neighbouring Families, with its dependency tree and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/71/) [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/) / [Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/) / [The Neighbouring Families](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/) / 71 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Neighbouring Families, sentence 71 On seeing the sparrow which the boys had brought, and which they said they did not want, he asked, "Shall we make it look very pretty?" **Who acts:** boy, sparrows, we, soap · **What happens:** see, bring, say, not want, ask, make · **To what, where:** sparrow, soap · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Neighbouring Families. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, sparrows, we, soap), 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:pg27200:124:71 # text = On seeing the sparrow which the boys had brought, and which they said they did not want, he asked, "Shall we make it look very pretty?" 1 On on SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 seeing see VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 sparrow sparrow NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 9 nsubj:pass _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nsubj:pass _ _ 8 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 aux _ _ 9 brought bring VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 12 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 14 obj _ _ 13 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 14 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 15 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 16 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 aux _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 18 advmod _ _ 18 want want VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 20 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 21 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 23 " " PUNCT `` _ 26 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 Shall shall AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 25 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 ccomp _ _ 27 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 look look VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 xcomp _ _ 29 very very ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 pretty pretty ADV RB _ 28 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ? ? PUNCT . _ 26 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 32 " " PUNCT '' _ 26 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **see** | gerund | boy *not said here* | the sparrow | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sparrow=Stimulus | | 2 | **bring** | past · perfect · passive | | the sparrow | | | | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: subject=Theme | | 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | sparrows *= sparrow* | | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **not** **want** | past · do-support | sparrows *= sparrow* | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot | | 5 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | boy | | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **make** *in a quote* | shall | we | soap | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **look** *in a quote* | infinitive | soap *not said here* | | | | | pretty *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | 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:** «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Project Gutenberg book 27200 (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 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/70/) - next →: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/72/) - ↑ back to [The Neighbouring Families](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/)