---
title: The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and w… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics
description: The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never seen such fireworks before. Who acts: birthday, it, stars. A sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen»
---

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# Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid, part 1, sentence 82

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The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never seen such fireworks before.

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**Who acts:** birthday, it, stars · **What happens:** startle, dive, stretch out, appear, fall, not see · **To what, where:** little mermaid, water, head, such fireworks

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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 (birthday, it, stars), 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:pg27200:75:82
# text = The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never seen such fireworks before.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	startled	startle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	dived	dive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
10	under	under	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
15	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	again	again	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	stretched	stretch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	advcl	_	_
18	out	out	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	_
19	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
24	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
25	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
26	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	28	det:predet	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	nsubj	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	_
31	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
32	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	advcl	_	_
33	around	around	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
36	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	nsubj	_	_
37	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	aux	_	_
38	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	39	advmod	_	_
39	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	conj	_	_
40	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	fireworks	firework	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	obj	_	_
42	before	before	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **startle** | past · passive |  | the little mermaid |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **dive** | past | birthday |  |  | water |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent under water=Location |
| 3 | **stretch out** | past | birthday | birthday's head |  |  | again |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent head=Patient |
| 4 | **appear** | past | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **fall** | past · progressive | all stars of heaven |  |  |  |  | around birthday | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme around she=Location |
| 6 | **not** **see** | past · perfect | birthday | such fireworks |  |  |  | before *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer firework=Stimulus |

<!-- .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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