---
title: It was true; a cloud appeared to pass over the sun, for between them… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: It was true; a cloud appeared to pass over the sun, for between them and it they could all discern dimly a huge body half a mile long approaching nearer and nearer. Who acts: spot, cloud. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29, with its dependency tree and the pragmat
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 29, sentence 61

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was true; a cloud appeared to pass over the sun, for between them and it they could all discern dimly a huge body half a mile long approaching nearer and nearer.

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**Who acts:** spot, cloud · **What happens:** be, appear, pass, discern, approach · **To what, where:** sun, huge body

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This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 29. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (spot, cloud), 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:pg3027:29:61
# text = It was true; a cloud appeared to pass over the sun, for between them and it they could all discern dimly a huge body half a mile long approaching nearer and nearer.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	cloud	cloud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	over	over	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	between	between	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	all	all	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	discern	discern	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
23	dimly	dimly	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
27	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	29	det:predet	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	mile	mile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl:unmarked	_	_
30	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	approaching	approach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
32	nearer	near	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	31	xcomp	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
34	nearer	near	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	32	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | spot |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **appear** | past | a cloud |  |  |  |  | for tears *= tear* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 3 | **pass** | to-infinitive | a cloud *not said here* |  |  | the sun |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme over sun=Location |
| 4 | **discern** | could | spot | a huge body |  |  |  | all, dimly *property* | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer body=Stimulus |
| 5 | **approach** | gerund | spot *not said here* |  |  |  |  | near *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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