---
title: For an instant they stood watching as if they were frozen, then they… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: For an instant they stood watching as if they were frozen, then they turned and ran with all their might, the man with the Bunyip running faster than all. Who acts: tops, Bunyip. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 8, with its dependency tree and the pragm
---

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# The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 8, sentence 95

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
For an instant they stood watching as if they were frozen, then they turned and ran with all their might, the man with the Bunyip running faster than all.

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**Who acts:** tops, Bunyip · **What happens:** stand, watch, freeze, turn, run · **To what, where:** tops

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This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, 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 (tops, Bunyip), 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:pg3282:8:95
# text = For an instant they stood watching as if they were frozen, then they turned and ran with all their might, the man with the Bunyip running faster than all.
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	instant	instant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	15	advmod	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
18	with	with	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
19	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	24	det:predet	_	_
20	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
21	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	ccomp	_	_
25	with	with	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	Bunyip	bunyip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	_
28	running	run	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	acl	_	_
29	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	28	advmod	_	_
30	than	than	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | past | tops *= top* |  |  |  |  | for a instant | vn admire-31.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **watch** | gerund | tops *= top* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **freeze** | past · passive |  | tops *= top* |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 4 | **turn** | past | tops *= top* |  |  |  | then |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **run** | past | tops *= top* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **run** | gerund | the Bunyip *not said here* |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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