---
title: But when he reached the gates he saw that it was really a great town… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: But when he reached the gates he saw that it was really a great town, so he wished himself back in his own shape and entered the city. Who acts: boy, heap. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 18, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 18, sentence 44

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
But when he reached the gates he saw that it was really a great town, so he wished himself back in his own shape and entered the city.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** boy, heap · **What happens:** reach, see, be, wish back, enter · **To what, where:** gates, great town, boy, own shape, city

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 18. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, heap), 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:pg3282:18:44
# text = But when he reached the gates he saw that it was really a great town, so he wished himself back in his own shape and entered the city.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
2	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	4	mark	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	gates	gate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
12	really	really	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	so	so	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
18	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
20	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	19	obj	_	_
21	back	back	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
24	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	entered	enter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	conj	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | past | boy | the gates |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent gate=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | past | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is a** | past | heap | a great town |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **wish back** | past | boy | boy |  | boy's own shape |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot himself=Theme |
| 5 | **enter** | past | boy *not said here* | the city |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme city=Destination |

<!-- .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 Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3282 (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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