--- title: Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, which floated b… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, which floated beneath them like troops of birds of passage, or large white swans; every leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes to see. Who acts: Already, topmost branches, clouds, sight. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/69/59/) [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 Last Dream of the Old Oak](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/69/) / 59 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Last Dream of the Old Oak, sentence 59 Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, which floated beneath them like troops of birds of passage, or large white swans; every leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes to see. **Who acts:** Already, topmost branches, clouds, sight · **What happens:** have, pierce, float, gift, possess, see · **To what, where:** topmost branches, clouds, leaf, eyes This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Last Dream of the Old Oak. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Already, topmost branches, clouds, sight), 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:pg27200:69:59 # text = Already had his topmost branches pierced the clouds, which floated beneath them like troops of birds of passage, or large white swans; every leaf seemed gifted with sight, as if it possessed eyes to see. 1 Already Already PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 nsubj _ _ 2 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 5 nmod:poss _ _ 4 topmost topmost ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 amod _ _ 5 branches branch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obj _ _ 6 pierced pierce VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 acl _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 clouds cloud NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 10 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 11 nsubj _ _ 11 floated float VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 acl:relcl _ _ 12 beneath beneath ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 13 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 obl _ _ 14 like like ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 troops troops NOUN NNS Number=Ptan 11 obl _ _ 16 of of ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 17 birds bird NOUN NNS Number=Plur 15 nmod _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 19 passage passage NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 21 or or CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 22 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 amod _ _ 23 white white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 amod _ _ 24 swans swan NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 25 ; ; PUNCT : _ 29 punct _ _ 26 every every DET DT PronType=Tot 27 det _ _ 27 leaf leaf NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nsubj:pass _ _ 28 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 aux:pass _ _ 29 gifted gift VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 parataxis _ _ 30 with with ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 sight sight NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 33 as as SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 34 if if SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 35 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 possessed possess VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 conj _ _ 37 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 obj _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 40 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | Already | Already's topmost branches | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent branch=Patient | | 2 | **pierce** | participle | Already's topmost branches *not said here* | the clouds | | | | | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloud=Patient | | 3 | **float** | past | the clouds | | | | | beneath clouds *= cloud*; like troops of birds of passage or large white swans | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath they=Trajectory | | 4 | **gift** | past · passive | | every leaf | | | | with sight | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme | | 5 | **possess** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | sight | eyes | | | | | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot eye=Theme | | 6 | **see** | to-infinitive | sight *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | 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 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/69/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/69/60/) - ↑ back to [The Last Dream of the Old Oak](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/69/)