--- title: This was the first set of eggs that the duck had ever laid, and, to… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: This was the first set of eggs that the duck had ever laid, and, to begin with, she was very pleased and proud, and laughed at the other mothers, who were always neglecting their duties to gossip with each other or to take little extra swims besides the two in the morning and evening that were neces --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/8/67/) [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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/8/) / 67 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 8, sentence 67 This was the first set of eggs that the duck had ever laid, and, to begin with, she was very pleased and proud, and laughed at the other mothers, who were always neglecting their duties to gossip with each other or to take little extra swims besides the two in the morning and evening that were necessary for health. **Who acts:** This, duck, other mothers, little extra, evening · **What happens:** be, lay, begin, laugh, neglect, gossip · **To what, where:** first set, duck, duties This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, duck, other mothers, little extra), 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:pg3027:8:67 # text = This was the first set of eggs that the duck had ever laid, and, to begin with, she was very pleased and proud, and laughed at the other mothers, who were always neglecting their duties to gossip with each other or to take little extra swims besides the two in the morning and evening that were necessary for health. 1 This this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 5 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 5 amod _ _ 5 set set NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 6 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 eggs egg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nmod _ _ 8 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 13 obj _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 duck duck NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj:pass _ _ 11 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 12 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 13 advmod _ _ 13 laid lay VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 15 and and CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 17 to to PART TO _ 18 mark _ _ 18 begin begin VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 19 with with ADP IN _ 18 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 21 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 22 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 cop _ _ 23 very very ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ _ 24 pleased pleased ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 parataxis _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 proud proud ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 laughed laugh VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 24 conj _ _ 30 at at ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 32 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 33 amod _ _ 33 mothers mother NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 35 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 38 nsubj _ _ 36 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 37 always always ADV RB PronType=Tot 38 advmod _ _ 38 neglecting neglect VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 33 acl:relcl _ _ 39 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 40 nmod:poss _ _ 40 duties duty NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 obj _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 gossip gossip VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 advcl _ _ 43 with with ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 44 each each DET DT ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp 42 obl _ _ 45 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 fixed _ _ 46 or or CCONJ CC _ 48 cc _ _ 47 to to PART TO _ 48 mark _ _ 48 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 42 conj _ _ 49 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 extra extra ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 nsubj _ _ 51 swims swim VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 48 ccomp _ _ 52 besides besides ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 54 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 51 obl _ _ 55 in in ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 morning morning NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obl _ _ 58 and and CCONJ CC _ 59 cc _ _ 59 evening evening NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 conj _ _ 60 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 62 nsubj _ _ 61 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 62 cop _ _ 62 necessary necessary ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 59 acl:relcl _ _ 63 for for ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 64 health health NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | This | the first set | | | | of eggs | tree rules | | 2 | **lay** | past · perfect · passive | | the duck | | | ever | | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme that=Destination | | 3 | **begin** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 4 | **is** | past | duck | | | | | pleased *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **be** | | duck *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **laugh** | past | duck *not said here* | | | | | at the other mothers | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **neglect** | past · progressive | the other mothers | eggs's duties | | | | always *property* | vn neglect-75.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duty=Theme | | 8 | **gossip** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | the other mothers *not said here* | | | | | with each | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with each=Co-Agent | | 9 | **take** | to-infinitive | the other mothers *not said here* | | | | | | vn require-103 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition | | 10 | **swim** | present | little extra | | | | morning | besides the two | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 11 | **is** | past | evening | | | | | for health; necessary *property* | tree rules | 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 66](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/8/66/) - next →: [sentence 68](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/8/68/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/8/)