--- title: The little one would not grow, for he was only a common snail; but t… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: The little one would not grow, for he was only a common snail; but the old people, particularly the mother-snail, declared that she could easily see how he grew; and when the father said he could not perceive it, she begged him to feel the little snail's shell, and he did so, and found that the moth --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/48/15/) [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 Happy Family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/48/) / 15 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Happy Family, sentence 15 The little one would not grow, for he was only a common snail; but the old people, particularly the mother-snail, declared that she could easily see how he grew; and when the father said he could not perceive it, she begged him to feel the little snail's shell, and he did so, and found that the mother was right. **Who acts:** little one, castle, old people, forest, father, mother · **What happens:** not grow, be, declare, see, grow, say · **To what, where:** dish, castle, shell · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Happy Family. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (little one, castle, old people, forest), 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:pg27200:48:15 # text = The little one would not grow, for he was only a common snail; but the old people, particularly the mother-snail, declared that she could easily see how he grew; and when the father said he could not perceive it, she begged him to feel the little snail's shell, and he did so, and found that the mother was right. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 4 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 5 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 6 advmod _ _ 6 grow grow VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 8 for for ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 10 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 cop _ _ 11 only only ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 common common ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 snail snail NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 ; ; PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 16 but but CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 18 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 amod _ _ 19 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 21 particularly particularly ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 23 mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 24 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 23 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 25 snail snail NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 27 declared declare VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 parataxis _ _ 28 that that SCONJ IN _ 32 mark _ _ 29 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 30 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 31 easily easily ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 32 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 27 ccomp _ _ 33 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 35 advmod _ _ 34 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 35 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 ; ; PUNCT : _ 41 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 38 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 41 advmod _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 nsubj _ _ 41 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 parataxis _ _ 42 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 43 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 44 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 45 advmod _ _ 45 perceive perceive VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 41 ccomp _ _ 46 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 48 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 49 begged beg VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 conj _ _ 50 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 obj _ _ 51 to to PART TO _ 52 mark _ _ 52 feel feel VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 49 xcomp _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 55 det _ _ 54 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 55 amod _ _ 55 snail snail NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 56 's 's PART POS _ 55 case _ _ 57 shell shell NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 61 punct _ _ 59 and and CCONJ CC _ 61 cc _ _ 60 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 61 nsubj _ _ 61 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 49 conj _ _ 62 so so ADV RB _ 61 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 63 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 64 and and CCONJ CC _ 65 cc _ _ 65 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 61 conj _ _ 66 that that SCONJ IN _ 70 mark _ _ 67 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 68 det _ _ 68 mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 nsubj _ _ 69 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 70 cop _ _ 70 right right ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 71 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **grow** | would | the little one | | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **is** | past | castle | | | | | for a common snail | tree rules | | 3 | **declare** *speech: other* | past | the old people | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 4 | **see** | could | forest | | | | | easily *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **grow** | past | castle | | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the father | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **not** **perceive** | could | castle | dish | | | | | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 8 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | forest | | castle | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 9 | **feel** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | forest *not said here* | the little snail's shell | | | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Theme | | 10 | **do** | past | castle | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 11 | **find** | past | castle *not said here* | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent | | 12 | **is** | past | the mother | | | | | right *property* | tree rules | 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 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/48/14/) - next →: [sentence 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/48/16/) - ↑ back to [The Happy Family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/48/)