---
title: The blows might have done me good when I was a child; now, I suppose… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: The blows might have done me good when I was a child; now, I suppose, I get them for my sins. Who acts: I. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Poultry Meg's Family, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, Poultry Meg's Family, sentence 223

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The blows might have done me good when I was a child; now, I suppose, I get them for my sins.

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**Who acts:** I · **What happens:** do, be, suppose, get · **To what, where:** blows, me, child

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This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Poultry Meg's Family. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg27200:149:223
# text = The blows might have done me good when I was a child; now, I suppose, I get them for my sins.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	blows	blow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	iobj	_	_
7	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
8	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	suppose	suppose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
21	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	sins	sin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | might · perfect · passive |  | the blows | me |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | I | a child |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **suppose** | present | I |  |  |  | now |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **get** | present | I | blows *= blow* |  |  |  | for my sins | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent they=Theme for sin=Source |

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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.

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**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.

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