---
title: They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back hair, whi… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but now they sat sideways on the wild hunting dogs, took the young Will-o'-the-Wisps in their laps, who wanted to go into the town to mislead and entice mortals, and, whisk! awa
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Says the Moor Woman, sentence 205

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but now they sat sideways on the wild hunting dogs, took the young Will-o'-the-Wisps in their laps, who wanted to go into the town to mislead and entice mortals, and, whisk! away they were.

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**Who acts:** youngsters, laps, whisk · **What happens:** rode, fasten, love, sit, take, want · **To what, where:** atmosphere, own back hair, hard seat, young, whisk, town

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Will-o-the Wisp Is in the Town, Says the Moor Woman. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (youngsters, laps, whisk), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg27200:211:205
# text = They usually rode through the atmosphere on their own back hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but now they sat sideways on the wild hunting dogs, took the young Will-o'-the-Wisps in their laps, who wanted to go into the town to mislead and entice mortals, and, whisk! away they were.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	rode	rode	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	atmosphere	atmosphere	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	fastened	fasten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl:relcl	_	_
16	into	into	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	knot	knot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	love	love	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	seat	seat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
28	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	30	advmod	_	_
29	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
31	sideways	sideways	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
32	on	on	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
34	wild	wild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
35	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	compound	_	_
36	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
38	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	conj	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	young	young	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
41	Will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	44	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	o	of	ADP	IN	Abbr=Yes	44	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	38	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	48	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	46	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	Wisps	wisp	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	conj	_	_
49	in	in	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
50	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	51	nmod:poss	_	_
51	laps	lap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	48	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
53	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	54	nsubj	_	_
54	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	acl:relcl	_	_
55	to	to	PART	TO	_	56	mark	_	_
56	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	xcomp	_	_
57	into	into	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
59	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	_
60	to	to	PART	TO	_	61	mark	_	_
61	mislead	mislead	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	56	advcl	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	63	cc	_	_
63	entice	entice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	61	conj	_	_
64	mortals	mortal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	63	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
66	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
68	whisk	whisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
69	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	70	punct	_	_
70	away	away	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
71	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	72	nsubj	_	_
72	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	70	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
73	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rode** | present | youngsters *= youngster* |  |  | the atmosphere |  | on youngsters's own back hair; away, usually *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fasten** | present · passive |  | youngsters's own back hair |  |  |  | into a knot | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: subject=Patient into knot=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **love** | present | youngsters *= youngster* | a hard seat |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer seat=Stimulus |
| 4 | **sit** | past | youngsters *= youngster* |  |  |  | now | on the wild hunting dogs; sideways *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on dog=Location |
| 5 | **take** | past | youngsters *= youngster* *not said here* | the young |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent young=Theme |
| 6 | **want** | past | youngsters's laps | whisk |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 7 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | whisk *not said here* |  |  | the town |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into town=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **mislead** | to-infinitive | whisk *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **entice** | infinitive | whisk *not said here* | mortals |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus mortal=Experiencer |
| 10 | **be** | past | youngsters *= youngster* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
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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