---
title: Sometimes they are more definite and inquire ‘What are you writing n… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Sometimes they are more definite and inquire ‘What are you writing now?’ as if I must be writing something--which, indeed, is the case, though I dislike being reminded of it. Who acts: ladies, you, I. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 1, with its depende
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 1, sentence 10

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sometimes they are more definite and inquire ‘What are you writing now?’ as if I must be writing something--which, indeed, is the case, though I dislike being reminded of it.

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**Who acts:** ladies, you, I · **What happens:** be, inquire, write, dislike, remind · **To what, where:** something, case

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ladies, you, I), 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:pg3454:1:10
# text = Sometimes they are more definite and inquire ‘What are you writing now?’ as if I must be writing something--which, indeed, is the case, though I dislike being reminded of it.
1	Sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	5	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	5	advmod	_	_
5	definite	definite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	inquire	inquire	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	obj	_	_
10	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	writing	write	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	conj	_	_
13	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
16	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
17	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
20	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	aux	_	_
21	writing	write	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
22	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	30	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
26	indeed	indeed	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
28	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
32	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
33	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	dislike	dislike	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
35	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	reminded	remind	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	34	advcl	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | ladies *= lady* |  |  |  |  | definite, sometimes *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **inquire** *speech: other* | infinitive | ladies *= lady* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **write** | present · progressive | you |  |  |  | now |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Theme |
| 4 | **write** | must · progressive | I | something |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Theme |
| 5 | **is a** | present |  | the case |  |  |  | indeed *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **dislike** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **remind** *speech: other* | gerund · passive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of present | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient PP.topic»: of it=Topic |

<!-- .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 Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3454 (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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