--- title: The time must have been nigh when he would think of taking the world… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The time must have been nigh when he would think of taking the world itself by the nose, to haul it over tussocks and drag it into his pen; for he was of the breed in whom mastery is born, and who are good masters. Who acts: Fionn. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter VII, wi --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/20/28/) [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/) / [Irish Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/) / [Chapter VII](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/20/) / 28 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter VII, sentence 28 The time must have been nigh when he would think of taking the world itself by the nose, to haul it over tussocks and drag it into his pen; for he was of the breed in whom mastery is born, and who are good masters. **Who acts:** Fionn · **What happens:** be, think, take, haul, drag, bear · **To what, where:** world, tussocks, pen, mastery, good masters This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter VII. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Fionn), 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:pg2892:20:28 # text = The time must have been nigh when he would think of taking the world itself by the nose, to haul it over tussocks and drag it into his pen; for he was of the breed in whom mastery is born, and who are good masters. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl:unmarked _ _ 3 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 4 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 6 aux _ _ 5 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 6 cop _ _ 6 nigh nigh ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 7 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 10 advmod _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 9 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 10 think think VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 ccomp _ _ 11 of of SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 12 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 advcl _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obj _ _ 15 itself itself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes 14 nmod:unmarked _ _ 16 by by ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 nose nose NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 haul haul VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 10 parataxis _ _ 22 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 obj _ _ 23 over over ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 24 tussocks tussock NOUN NNS Number=Plur 21 obl _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 drag drag VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 21 conj _ _ 27 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 into into ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 30 nmod:poss _ _ 30 pen pen NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ; ; PUNCT : _ 37 punct _ _ 32 for for ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 33 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 34 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 37 cop _ _ 35 of of ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 breed breed NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 conj _ _ 38 in in ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 whom whom PRON WP PronType=Rel 37 nmod _ _ 40 mastery mastery NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 nsubj:pass _ _ 41 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux:pass _ _ 42 born bear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 39 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 44 and and CCONJ CC _ 48 cc _ _ 45 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 48 nsubj _ _ 46 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 48 cop _ _ 47 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 48 amod _ _ 48 masters master NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | must · perfect | | | | | time | nigh *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **think** *speech: other* | would | Fionn | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **take** | gerund | Fionn *not said here* | the world world | | | | by the nose | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent world=Theme | | 4 | **haul** | to-infinitive | | world | | tussocks | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 5 | **drag** | present | | world | | Fionn's pen | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 6 | **is** | past | Fionn | | | | | for the breed | tree rules | | 7 | **bear** | present · passive | | mastery | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 8 | **is a** | present | | good masters | | | | | tree rules | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/20/27/) - next →: [sentence 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/20/29/) - ↑ back to [Chapter VII](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/20/)