---
title: They even sprang into the water and tried to dive after her, but in… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: They even sprang into the water and tried to dive after her, but in vain; they only floated like corks in the enchanted pool, and could not keep under water for a second. Who acts: playmates. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 31, with its dependency tree
---

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# The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 31, sentence 20

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They even sprang into the water and tried to dive after her, but in vain; they only floated like corks in the enchanted pool, and could not keep under water for a second.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** playmates · **What happens:** spring, try, dive, float, enchant, not keep · **To what, where:** water, enchanted pool

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 31. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (playmates), 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:pg3282:31:20
# text = They even sprang into the water and tried to dive after her, but in vain; they only floated like corks in the enchanted pool, and could not keep under water for a second.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	even	even	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	sprang	spring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	dive	dive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	vain	vain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	only	only	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	floated	float	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
21	like	like	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	corks	cork	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	enchanted	enchant	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	amod	_	_
26	pool	pool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
29	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
30	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	31	advmod	_	_
31	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	advcl	_	_
32	under	under	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
34	for	for	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	second	second	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spring** | past | playmates *= playmate* |  |  | the water |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into water=Destination |
| 2 | **try** | past | playmates *= playmate* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **dive** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | playmates *= playmate* *not said here* |  |  |  | after princess |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 4 | **float** | past | playmates *= playmate* |  |  | the enchanted pool |  | like corks | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in pool=Trajectory |
| 5 | **enchant** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **not** **keep** | could | playmates *= playmate* *not said here* |  |  | water | second |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent under water=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 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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