--- title: Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince's side as a soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her wondered at her graceful-swaying movements. Who acts: --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/77/44/) [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 Little Mermaid, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/77/) / 44 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid, part 3, sentence 44 Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince's side as a soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her wondered at her graceful-swaying movements. **Who acts:** sun, step · **What happens:** take, say, be, feel, tread, bear · **To what, where:** step, points, all, swaying movements, needles · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Little Mermaid, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sun, step), 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:pg27200:77:44 # text = Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince's side as a soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her wondered at her graceful-swaying movements. 1 Every every DET DT PronType=Tot 2 det _ _ 2 step step NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 acl:relcl _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux:pass _ _ 6 as as SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 witch witch NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nsubj:pass _ _ 9 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 10 said say VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 11 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 12 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 be be VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 15 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 felt feel VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 parataxis _ _ 17 as as SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 18 if if SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 19 treading tread VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 16 advcl _ _ 20 upon upon ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 points point NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 obl _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 24 needles needle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 nmod _ _ 25 or or CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 26 sharp sharp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 amod _ _ 27 knives knife NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ; ; PUNCT : _ 31 punct _ _ 29 but but CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 30 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 bore bear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 parataxis _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ _ 33 willingly willingly ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 36 stepped step VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 31 conj _ _ 37 as as ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 lightly lightly ADV RB _ 36 obl _ _ 39 by by ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 prince prince NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 42 's 's PART POS _ 41 case _ _ 43 side side NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obl _ _ 44 as as ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 45 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 46 soap soap NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 47 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 46 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 48 bubble bubble NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 50 so so SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 54 mark _ _ 51 that that SCONJ IN _ 50 fixed _ _ 52 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 53 and and CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ _ 54 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 56 obl _ _ 55 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 56 nsubj _ _ 56 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 conj _ _ 57 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 58 nsubj _ _ 58 wondered wonder VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 56 ccomp _ _ 59 at at ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 60 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 64 nmod:poss _ _ 61 graceful graceful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 63 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 62 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 61 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 63 swaying sway VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 64 amod _ _ 64 movements movement NOUN NNS Number=Plur 58 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past | sun | every step *not said here* | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent step=Theme | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect · passive | | every step | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **be** | would | step | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **feel** | past | sun | | | | | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 5 | **tread** | gerund | sun *not said here* | | | the points of needles or sharp knives | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon point=Trajectory | | 6 | **bear** | past | sun | step | | | | willingly *property* | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient | | 7 | **step** | participle | sun *not said here* | | | | | by the prince's side; as a soap bubble | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by side=Trajectory | | 8 | **see** | past | | all | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 9 | **wonder** *speech: ask* | past | sun | | | sun's swaying movements | | | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 10 | **sway** | gerund | | | | | | | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 11 | **point** | | | needles or sharp knives | | | | | nom point «cognition transitive»: of=patient | | 12 | **move** | | sun | | | | | | nom movement «act transitive»: poss=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 43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/77/43/) - next →: [sentence 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/77/45/) - ↑ back to [The Little Mermaid, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/77/)