--- title: But Father Grumbler was wiser than they gave him credit for, and tho… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: But Father Grumbler was wiser than they gave him credit for, and though they tried in all manner of ways to find out who had given him the basket, he put them off, and kept his secret to himself. Who acts: Father, innkeeper, ways. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/9/53/) [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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/9/) / 53 # The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 9, sentence 53 But Father Grumbler was wiser than they gave him credit for, and though they tried in all manner of ways to find out who had given him the basket, he put them off, and kept his secret to himself. **Who acts:** Father, innkeeper, ways · **What happens:** be, give, try, find out, put off, keep · **To what, where:** credit, Father, manner, basket, innkeeper, secret This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Father, innkeeper, ways), 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:pg3282:9:53 # text = But Father Grumbler was wiser than they gave him credit for, and though they tried in all manner of ways to find out who had given him the basket, he put them off, and kept his secret to himself. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 5 cc _ _ 2 Father Father PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 Grumbler Grumbler PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 flat _ _ 4 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 5 wiser wise ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 0 root _ _ 6 than than SCONJ IN _ 8 mark _ _ 7 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 gave give VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 advcl _ _ 9 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 iobj _ _ 10 credit credit NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 11 for for ADP IN _ 10 fixed _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 14 though though SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 15 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 17 in in ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 19 det _ _ 19 manner manner NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 20 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 ways way NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 nmod _ _ 22 to to PART TO _ 23 mark _ _ 23 find find VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 27 advcl _ _ 24 out out ADP RP _ 23 compound:prt _ _ 25 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 27 nsubj _ _ 26 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 aux _ _ 27 given give VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 21 acl:relcl _ _ 28 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 iobj _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 basket basket NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 put put VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 conj _ _ 34 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 obj _ _ 35 off off ADP RP _ 33 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 kept keep VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 conj _ _ 39 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 40 nmod:poss _ _ 40 secret secret NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ _ 41 to to ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 38 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | Father | | | | | wise *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **give** | past | innkeeper | credit | Father | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient credit=Theme | | 3 | **try** | past | innkeeper | | | all manner of ways | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **find out** | to-infinitive | ways *not said here* | | | | | | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **give** | past · perfect | ways | the basket | Father | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient basket=Theme | | 6 | **put off** | past | Father | innkeeper | | | | | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent they=Goal | | 7 | **keep** | past | innkeeper *not said here* | Father's secret | Father | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent secret=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 52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/9/52/) - next →: [sentence 54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/9/54/) - ↑ back to [The Brown Fairy Book, part 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/9/)