---
title: If the hare turned while Fionn was after her it was switch for Fionn… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: If the hare turned while Fionn was after her it was switch for Fionn; so that in a while it did not matter to Fionn which way the hare jumped for he could jump that way too. Who acts: hare, Fionn, it. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter IV, with its dependency tree and the p
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter IV, sentence 12

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If the hare turned while Fionn was after her it was switch for Fionn; so that in a while it did not matter to Fionn which way the hare jumped for he could jump that way too.

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**Who acts:** hare, Fionn, it · **What happens:** turn, be, not matter, jump · **To what, where:** switch, way, Fionn

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This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter IV. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (hare, Fionn, it), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg2892:17:12
# text = If the hare turned while Fionn was after her it was switch for Fionn; so that in a while it did not matter to Fionn which way the hare jumped for he could jump that way too.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
6	Fionn	Fionn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
8	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	switch	switch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Fionn	Fionn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
16	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	24	mark	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	fixed	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	while	while	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
22	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	24	advmod	_	_
24	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
25	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	Fionn	Fionn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
27	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	28	det	_	_
28	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl:unmarked	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nsubj	_	_
31	jumped	jump	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	acl:relcl	_	_
32	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	35	mark	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
34	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	jump	jump	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	advcl	_	_
36	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	37	det	_	_
37	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	_
38	too	too	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | past | the hare |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | past | Fionn | switch |  |  |  | for Fionn | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **matter** | past · do-support | it | which way | Fionn |  | while |  | vn matter-91 «NP V PP.experiencer»: agent=Stimulus to fionn=Experiencer |
| 4 | **jump** | past | the hare | which way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme way=Trajectory |
| 5 | **jump** | could | Fionn | that way |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme way=Trajectory |

<!-- .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:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (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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