---
title: ‘That I cannot do,’ answered she, ‘for I have given my word to my fa… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: ‘That I cannot do,’ answered she, ‘for I have given my word to my father not to go without his knowledge, for his life will only last till I am betrothed. Who acts: you, maiden, I, life. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 39, with its dependency tree and 
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 39, sentence 7

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
‘That I cannot do,’ answered she, ‘for I have given my word to my father not to go without his knowledge, for his life will only last till I am betrothed.

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**Who acts:** you, maiden, I, life, my · **What happens:** ', answer, give, not go, last, betroth · **To what, where:** word, father, I

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 39. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (you, maiden, I, life), 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:pg3454:39:7
# text = ‘That I cannot do,’ answered she, ‘for I have given my word to my father not to go without his knowledge, for his life will only last till I am betrothed.
1	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj:outer	_	_
3	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	’	'	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	answered	answer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	xcomp	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
12	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	24	advcl	_	_
17	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	24	advmod	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
25	without	without	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	knowledge	knowledge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
29	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
32	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	only	only	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	last	last	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
35	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
36	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
37	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux:pass	_	_
38	betrothed	betroth	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	34	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **'** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **answer** *speech: assert* | participle | maiden |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **give** | present · perfect | I | my word | my father |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent word=Theme to father=Recipient |
| 4 | **not** **go** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | without Kilweh's knowledge | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **last** | future | Kilweh's life |  |  |  |  |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **betroth** | present · passive |  | I |  |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **word** |  | my |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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