---
title: He clutched again; but in doing so he over- balanced himself and was… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: He clutched again; but in doing so he over- balanced himself and was hurried into some rapids, where he was knocked against some rocks, and he sank and was drowned, and his body was carried down the stream into smoother water when it rose to the surface again. Who acts: river, doing, pack. A sentenc
---

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# The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 34, sentence 104

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He clutched again; but in doing so he over- balanced himself and was hurried into some rapids, where he was knocked against some rocks, and he sank and was drowned, and his body was carried down the stream into smoother water when it rose to the surface again.

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**Who acts:** river, doing, pack · **What happens:** clutch, do, balance, hurry, knock, sink · **To what, where:** river, rapids, rocks, body, smoother water, surface

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This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 34. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (river, doing, pack), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg3027:34:104
# text = He clutched again; but in doing so he over- balanced himself and was hurried into some rapids, where he was knocked against some rocks, and he sank and was drowned, and his body was carried down the stream into smoother water when it rose to the surface again.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	clutched	clutch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	again	again	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
6	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	csubj:pass	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
10	over	over	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	_
12	balanced	balance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	parataxis	_	_
13	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	12	obj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	hurried	hurry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	conj	_	_
17	into	into	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	19	det	_	_
19	rapids	rapid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	24	advmod	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	knocked	knock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	conj	_	_
25	against	against	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	27	det	_	_
27	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
29	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
30	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
31	sank	sink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
33	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	aux:pass	_	_
34	drowned	drown	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
37	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
38	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nsubj:pass	_	_
39	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	aux:pass	_	_
40	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	parataxis	_	_
41	down	down	ADP	RP	_	40	compound:prt	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obj	_	_
44	into	into	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	smoother	smooth	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	46	amod	_	_
46	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
47	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	49	advmod	_	_
48	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	49	nsubj	_	_
49	rose	rise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	advcl	_	_
50	to	to	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
52	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obl	_	_
53	again	again	ADV	RB	_	49	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **clutch** | past | river |  |  |  | again |  | vn hold-15.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | gerund | river |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **balance** | participle | doing | river |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location himself=Theme |
| 4 | **hurry** | past · passive | doing *not said here* |  |  | some rapids |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: into rapid=Destination |
| 5 | **knock** | past · passive |  | river |  | some rocks |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme against rock=Destination |
| 6 | **sink** | past | river |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 7 | **drown** | past · passive | river *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP» |
| 8 | **carry down** | past · passive |  | river's body |  | smoother water |  |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary stream=Value |
| 9 | **rise** | past | pack |  |  | the surface | again |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to surface=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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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