--- title: But the stream flowed so quickly that he could not see how he was ev… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: But the stream flowed so quickly that he could not see how he was ever to cross it, and in order to test how swift the current really was, he broke a branch from a tree and threw it in. Who acts: stream. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 7, with its depe --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/7/4/) [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 Brown Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/) / [The Brown Fairy Book, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/7/) / 4 # The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 7, sentence 4 But the stream flowed so quickly that he could not see how he was ever to cross it, and in order to test how swift the current really was, he broke a branch from a tree and threw it in. **Who acts:** stream · **What happens:** flow, not see, be, test, swift, break · **To what, where:** current, branch, hut · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (stream), 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:pg3282:7:4 # text = But the stream flowed so quickly that he could not see how he was ever to cross it, and in order to test how swift the current really was, he broke a branch from a tree and threw it in. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 4 cc _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 stream stream NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 flowed flow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 so so ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 quickly quickly ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 9 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 10 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 11 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 12 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 17 advmod _ _ 13 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 14 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 cop _ _ 15 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 17 advmod _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 cross cross VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 11 ccomp _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 21 in in SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 24 mark _ _ 22 order order NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 fixed _ _ 23 to to PART TO _ 24 mark _ _ 24 test test VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 25 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 26 advmod _ _ 26 swift swift VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 24 ccomp _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 current current NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obj _ _ 29 really really ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 broke break VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 34 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 branch branch NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ _ 36 from from ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 tree tree NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obl _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 40 threw throw VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 conj _ _ 41 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 in in ADP RP _ 40 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **flow** | past | the stream | | | | | quickly *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **not** **see** | could | stream | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 3 | **is** | past | stream | | | | ever | cross *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **test** | to-infinitive | the stream *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **swift** | present | the stream *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **is a** | past | | the current | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **break** | past | stream | a branch | | | | from a tree | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent branch=Patient from tree=Co-Patient | | 8 | **throw in** | past | stream *not said here* | hut | | | | | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | 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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/7/3/) - next →: [sentence 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/7/5/) - ↑ back to [The Brown Fairy Book, part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/7/)