--- title: We grope and ferret about, and yet remain where we are; but the ball… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: We grope and ferret about, and yet remain where we are; but the ball keeps turning, without emptying the ocean over us; the clod on which we move about, holds, and does not let us through. Who acts: We, ball, clod. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, First Visit --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/136/13/) [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/) / [First Visit](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/136/) / 13 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, First Visit, sentence 13 We grope and ferret about, and yet remain where we are; but the ball keeps turning, without emptying the ocean over us; the clod on which we move about, holds, and does not let us through. **Who acts:** We, ball, clod · **What happens:** grope, ferret about, remain, be, keep, turn · **To what, where:** ocean, us This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, First Visit. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We, ball, clod), 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:pg27200:136:13 # text = We grope and ferret about, and yet remain where we are; but the ball keeps turning, without emptying the ocean over us; the clod on which we move about, holds, and does not let us through. 1 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 grope grope VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 and and CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 4 ferret ferret VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 5 about about ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 9 cc _ _ 8 yet yet ADV RB _ 9 advmod _ _ 9 remain remain VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 10 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 9 ccomp _ _ 11 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 12 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ; ; PUNCT : _ 17 punct _ _ 14 but but CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 ball ball NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nsubj _ _ 17 keeps keep VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 18 turning turn VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 17 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 20 without without SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 21 emptying empty VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 18 conj _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 ocean ocean NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 24 over over ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 ; ; PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 clod clod NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 nsubj _ _ 29 on on ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 30 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 32 obl _ _ 31 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 32 move move VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 17 conj _ _ 33 about about ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 35 holds hold VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 32 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 38 does do AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 39 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 40 advmod _ _ 40 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 35 conj _ _ 41 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 through through ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **grope** | present | We | | | | | | vn rummage-35.5-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **ferret about** | present | We *not said here* | | | | | about *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **remain** | present | We *not said here* | | | | yet | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **is** | present | we | | | | | where *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **keep** | present | the ball | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **turn** | gerund | the ball *not said here* | | | | | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **empty** | gerund | the ball *not said here* | the ocean | | | | over us | vn clear-10.3-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent ocean=Source | | 8 | **move about** | present | the clod | | | | | about *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme on which=Trajectory | | 9 | **hold** | present | the clod *not said here* | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 10 | **not** **let** | present · do-support | the clod *not said here* | us | | | | through *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent we=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:** «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 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/136/12/) - next →: [sentence 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/136/14/) - ↑ back to [First Visit](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/136/)