---
title: He understood something of the danger that there might be in trying… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: He understood something of the danger that there might be in trying to steal it, now that the witch's suspicions were aroused, and he spent hours in making plans for outwitting her. Who acts: king, danger, witch. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 16, with its depend
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 16, sentence 101

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He understood something of the danger that there might be in trying to steal it, now that the witch's suspicions were aroused, and he spent hours in making plans for outwitting her.

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**Who acts:** king, danger, witch · **What happens:** understand, be, steal, arouse, spend, make · **To what, where:** something, danger, suspicions, plans, witch

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This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (king, danger, witch), 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:pg3027:16:101
# text = He understood something of the danger that there might be in trying to steal it, now that the witch's suspicions were aroused, and he spent hours in making plans for outwitting her.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	understood	understand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
8	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	12	expl	_	_
9	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
11	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	acl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	steal	steal	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
17	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	24	advmod	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	's	's	PART	POS	_	20	case	_	_
22	suspicions	suspicion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	nsubj	_	_
23	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	aroused	arouse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	spent	spend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
29	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	_
30	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
31	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	28	advcl	_	_
32	plans	plan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obj	_	_
33	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
34	outwitting	outwit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	31	advcl	_	_
35	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **understand** | past | king | something |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer something=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is** | might | the danger *not said here* |  |  | there |  | try *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **steal** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the danger *not said here* | danger |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |
| 4 | **arouse** | past · passive |  | the witch's suspicions |  |  | now |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 5 | **spend** | past | king |  |  |  | hour |  | vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **make** | gerund | king *not said here* | plans |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset plan=Product |
| 7 | **outwit** | gerund | king *not said here* | witch |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot she=Theme |
| 8 | **suspect** |  | the witch |  |  |  |  |  | nom suspicion «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:** «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3027 (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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