--- title: The oars divided the pliant water like the fins of a fish--that wate… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: The oars divided the pliant water like the fins of a fish--that water which, with all its yielding softness, is so strong to bear and to carry, so mild and smiling when at rest, and yet so terrible in its destroying power. Who acts: oars, fish. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/66/8/) [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/) / [XV. the Conclusion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/66/) / 8 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, XV. the Conclusion, sentence 8 The oars divided the pliant water like the fins of a fish--that water which, with all its yielding softness, is so strong to bear and to carry, so mild and smiling when at rest, and yet so terrible in its destroying power. **Who acts:** oars, fish · **What happens:** divide, yield, be, bear, carry, smile · **To what, where:** pliant water This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, XV. the Conclusion. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (oars, fish), 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:pg27200:66:8 # text = The oars divided the pliant water like the fins of a fish--that water which, with all its yielding softness, is so strong to bear and to carry, so mild and smiling when at rest, and yet so terrible in its destroying power. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 oars oar NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 nsubj _ _ 3 divided divide VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 pliant pliant ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obj _ _ 7 like like ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 fins fin NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obl _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 fish fish NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 13 -- -- PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 14 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 15 det _ _ 15 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 conj _ _ 16 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 26 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 18 with with ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 19 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 22 det:predet _ _ 20 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 22 nmod:poss _ _ 21 yielding yield VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 22 amod _ _ 22 softness softness NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 24 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 26 cop _ _ 25 so so ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 26 strong strong ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 acl:relcl _ _ 27 to to PART TO _ 28 mark _ _ 28 bear bear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 advcl _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 30 to to PART TO _ 31 mark _ _ 31 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 33 so so ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 mild mild ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 36 smiling smile VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 34 conj _ _ 37 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 36 advmod _ _ 38 at at ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 rest rest NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 42 yet yet ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 43 so so ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 44 terrible terrible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 conj _ _ 45 in in ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 46 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 48 nmod:poss _ _ 47 destroying destroy VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 48 amod _ _ 48 power power NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **divide** | past | the oars | the pliant water | | | | like the fins of a fish and that water | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Theme | | 2 | **yield** | gerund | | | | | | | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **is** | present | a fish and that water | | | | | strong *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **bear** | to-infinitive | a fish and that water *not said here* | | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **carry** | to-infinitive | a fish and that water *not said here* | | | | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **smile** | gerund | the oars *not said here* | | | | | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **destroy** | gerund | | | | | | | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | 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 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/66/7/) - next →: [sentence 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/66/9/) - ↑ back to [XV. the Conclusion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/66/)