--- title: Jack would have liked nothing better than to sit and dream by the fi… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Jack would have liked nothing better than to sit and dream by the fire, but the mother, who was very old herself, declared that there was no work for him to do, and that he must seek it with his brothers. Who acts: Jack, mother, work. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, pa --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/19/106/) [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/) / [The Orange Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/) / [Opening, part 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/19/) / 106 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 19, sentence 106 Jack would have liked nothing better than to sit and dream by the fire, but the mother, who was very old herself, declared that there was no work for him to do, and that he must seek it with his brothers. **Who acts:** Jack, mother, work · **What happens:** like, sit, dream, be, declare, do · **To what, where:** nothing, work This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 19. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Jack, mother, work), 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:pg3027:19:106 # text = Jack would have liked nothing better than to sit and dream by the fire, but the mother, who was very old herself, declared that there was no work for him to do, and that he must seek it with his brothers. 1 Jack Jack PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 2 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 4 aux _ _ 4 liked like VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 5 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 4 obj _ _ 6 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 5 amod _ _ 7 than than SCONJ IN _ 9 mark _ _ 8 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 9 sit sit VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 advcl _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 dream dream VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 conj _ _ 12 by by ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 fire fire NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 16 but but CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 20 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 23 nsubj _ _ 21 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 22 very very ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 24 herself herself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 26 declared declare VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 27 that that SCONJ IN _ 29 mark _ _ 28 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 29 expl _ _ 29 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 advcl _ _ 30 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 31 det _ _ 31 work work NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nsubj _ _ 32 for for SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 33 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 38 that that SCONJ IN _ 41 mark _ _ 39 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 40 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 41 aux _ _ 41 seek seek VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 42 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 obj _ _ 43 with with ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 45 nmod:poss _ _ 45 brothers brother NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **like** | would · perfect | Jack | nothing | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot nothing=Theme | | 2 | **sit** | to-infinitive | Jack *not said here* | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **dream** | infinitive | Jack *not said here* | | | | | by the fire | vn cognize-85 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is** | past | the mother | | | | | Michael *obl*; old *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **declare** *speech: other* | past | the mother | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **be** | past | no work | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **do** | to-infinitive | Jack | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **seek** | must | Jack | work | | | | with Jack's brothers | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 105](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/19/105/) - next →: [sentence 107](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/19/107/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/19/)