---
title: The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked. Who acts: large amber windows, fish, swallows, we. A sentence
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid, part 1, sentence 15

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The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked.

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**Who acts:** large amber windows, fish, swallows, we, fishes · **What happens:** be, swim, fly, open, except, swim up · **To what, where:** houses, windows, princesses, hands

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This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Little Mermaid, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (large amber windows, fish, swallows, we), 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:pg27200:75:15
# text = The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	amber	amber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	windows	window	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	swam	swim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
12	in	in	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	just	just	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	swallows	swallow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
18	fly	fly	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	parataxis	_	_
19	into	into	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	houses	house	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	_
22	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	24	advmod	_	_
23	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	open	open	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	windows	window	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
28	excepting	except	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	advcl	_	_
29	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	nsubj	_	_
32	swam	swim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	ccomp	_	_
33	up	up	ADP	RP	_	32	compound:prt	_	_
34	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	princesses	princess	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
38	ate	eat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	conj	_	_
39	out	out	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
40	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	42	nmod:poss	_	_
42	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
45	allowed	allow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
46	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	45	obj	_	_
47	to	to	PART	TO	_	49	mark	_	_
48	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	49	aux:pass	_	_
49	stroked	stroke	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	45	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the large amber windows |  |  |  |  | open *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **swim** | past | the fish |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **fly** | present | the swallows |  |  |  |  | into our houses *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme into house=Result |
| 4 | **open** | present | we | the windows |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location window=Theme |
| 5 | **except** | gerund | we *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **swim up** | past | the fishes |  | the princesses |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to princess=Destination |
| 7 | **eat out** | past | the fishes *not said here* | Fishes's hands |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |
| 8 | **allow** | past | the large amber windows *not said here* | windows *= window* |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent themselves=Beneficiary |
| 9 | **stroke** | to-infinitive · passive | the large amber windows *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP» |

<!-- .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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