---
title: Then they sat down, and for some time they were too tired even to no… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Then they sat down, and for some time they were too tired even to notice anything; but by-and-by they saw that under the tiles of the roof a number of swallows were sitting, chattering merrily to each other. Who acts: boy, swallows. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 32, sentence 117

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then they sat down, and for some time they were too tired even to notice anything; but by-and-by they saw that under the tiles of the roof a number of swallows were sitting, chattering merrily to each other.

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**Who acts:** boy, swallows · **What happens:** sit down, be, notice, see, sit, chatter · **To what, where:** anything, tiles, number, each

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This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 32. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, swallows), 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:pg3027:32:117
# text = Then they sat down, and for some time they were too tired even to notice anything; but by-and-by they saw that under the tiles of the roof a number of swallows were sitting, chattering merrily to each other.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	down	down	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	too	too	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	_
14	even	even	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	notice	notice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
17	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
19	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
20	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
25	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
28	under	under	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	tiles	tile	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	obj	_	_
31	of	of	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	roof	roof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	conj	_	_
36	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
37	swallows	swallow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	nsubj	_	_
38	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	aux	_	_
39	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	35	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
41	chattering	chatter	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	39	advcl	_	_
42	merrily	merrily	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
43	to	to	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
44	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	41	obl	_	_
45	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit down** | past | boy |  |  |  | then |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | boy |  |  |  | time | tired *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **notice** | to-infinitive | boy *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer anything=Stimulus |
| 4 | **see** | past | boy | the tiles of the roof and a number |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer tile=Stimulus |
| 5 | **sit** | past · progressive | swallows | a number *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location number=Theme |
| 6 | **chatter** | gerund | swallows *not said here* |  | each |  |  | merrily *property* | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to each=Recipient |

<!-- .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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