--- title: However, it was no use standing there staring at the fir, at least h… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: However, it was no use standing there staring at the fir, at least he must try to do his best, and try he did till his hands and knees were sore, for as soon as he had struggled up a few feet, he slid back again. Who acts: sailor, use, sun. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Li --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/29/19/) [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 Lilac Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/) / [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/29/) / 19 # The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 29, sentence 19 However, it was no use standing there staring at the fir, at least he must try to do his best, and try he did till his hands and knees were sore, for as soon as he had struggled up a few feet, he slid back again. **Who acts:** sailor, use, sun · **What happens:** be, stand, stare, try, do, struggle up · **To what, where:** use, least, best, few feet This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 29. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sailor, use, sun), 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:pg3454:29:19 # text = However, it was no use standing there staring at the fir, at least he must try to do his best, and try he did till his hands and knees were sore, for as soon as he had struggled up a few feet, he slid back again. 1 However however ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 4 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 5 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 6 det _ _ 6 use use NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 7 standing stand VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 6 acl _ _ 8 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 7 advmod _ _ 9 staring stare VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 7 advcl _ _ 10 at at ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 fir fir NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 14 at at ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 least least ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 18 obl _ _ 16 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 17 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 18 aux _ _ 18 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 conj _ _ 19 to to PART TO _ 20 mark _ _ 20 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 xcomp _ _ 21 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 22 nmod:poss _ _ 22 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 20 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 25 try try VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 18 parataxis _ _ 26 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 ccomp _ _ 28 till till ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 30 nmod:poss _ _ 30 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 obl _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 32 knees knee NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 conj _ _ 33 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 34 cop _ _ 34 sore sore ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 27 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 36 for for SCONJ IN _ 42 mark _ _ 37 as as ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 38 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 42 advmod _ _ 39 as as SCONJ IN _ 42 mark _ _ 40 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 41 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 42 struggled struggle VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 25 parataxis _ _ 43 up up ADP RP _ 42 compound:prt _ _ 44 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 45 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 amod _ _ 46 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 42 obl:unmarked _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 48 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 49 slid slide VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 conj _ _ 50 back back ADV RB _ 49 advmod _ _ 51 again again ADV RB _ 49 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | sailor | no use | | | | however *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **stand** | gerund | no use *not said here* | | | there | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **stare** | gerund | no use *not said here* | | | | | at the fir | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at fir=Theme | | 4 | **try** | must | sun | | | least | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **do** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | sun *not said here* | sun's best | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent good=Eventuality | | 6 | **try** | infinitive | | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 7 | **do** | past | sun | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **is** | past | sun *not said here* | | | | till sun's hands and knees | sore *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **struggle up** | past · perfect | sun | a few feet | | | | soon *property* | vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 10 | **slide back** | past | sun | | | | again | | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=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 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. - ← previous: [sentence 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/29/18/) - next →: [sentence 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/29/20/) - ↑ back to [The Lilac Fairy Book, part 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3454/29/)