--- title: The clerks were almost all old boys; but they did not dress as we ar… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: The clerks were almost all old boys; but they did not dress as we are accustomed to see old men represented, wearing wigs, nightcaps, and knee-breeches, and with coat and waistcoat buttoned up to the chin. Who acts: clerks. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Th --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/128/24/) [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 Old Bachelor's Nightcap](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/128/) / 24 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap, sentence 24 The clerks were almost all old boys; but they did not dress as we are accustomed to see old men represented, wearing wigs, nightcaps, and knee-breeches, and with coat and waistcoat buttoned up to the chin. **Who acts:** clerks · **What happens:** be, not dress, accustom, see, represent, wear · **To what, where:** old boys, knee breeches, we, old men, wigs This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Old Bachelor's Nightcap. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (clerks), 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:pg27200:128:24 # text = The clerks were almost all old boys; but they did not dress as we are accustomed to see old men represented, wearing wigs, nightcaps, and knee-breeches, and with coat and waistcoat buttoned up to the chin. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 clerks clerk NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 nsubj _ _ 3 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 cop _ _ 4 almost almost ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 5 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 7 det _ _ 6 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 8 ; ; PUNCT : _ 13 punct _ _ 9 but but CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 10 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 11 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 12 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 13 advmod _ _ 13 dress dress VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 parataxis _ _ 14 as as SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 15 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 16 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux:pass _ _ 17 accustomed accustom VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 13 advcl _ _ 18 to to PART TO _ 19 mark _ _ 19 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 xcomp _ _ 20 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 amod _ _ 21 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 obj _ _ 22 represented represent VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 21 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 24 wearing wear VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 22 advcl _ _ 25 wigs wig NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 nightcaps nightcap NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 30 knee knee NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 31 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 30 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 32 breeches breech NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 35 with with ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 coat coat NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 waistcoat waistcoat NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 conj _ _ 39 buttoned button VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 13 conj _ _ 40 up up ADP RP _ 39 compound:prt _ _ 41 to to ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 chin chin NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | the clerks | all old boys | | | | almost *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **not** **dress** | past · do-support | clerks *= clerk* | knee breeches | | | | | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **accustom** | present · passive | | we | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **see** | to-infinitive | | old men | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer man=Stimulus | | 5 | **represent** | participle | | old men *not said here* | | | | | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **wear** | gerund | | wigs and nightcaps | | | | | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent wig=Theme | | 7 | **button up** | participle | clerks *= clerk* *not said here* | | | | | with coat and waistcoat; to the chin | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP PP.co-patient PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with coat=Instrument to chin=Co-Patient | 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 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/128/23/) - next →: [sentence 25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/128/25/) - ↑ back to [The Old Bachelor's Nightcap](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/128/)