---
title: Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: ‘I really ha… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: ‘I really hardly know how to thank you for all your kindness to me during these weeks. Who acts: Matters, shark, I. A sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 5, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics o
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 5, sentence 42

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Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: ‘I really hardly know how to thank you for all your kindness to me during these weeks.

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**Who acts:** Matters, shark, I · **What happens:** be, say, know, thank · **To what, where:** state, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Matters, shark, I), 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:pg3454:5:42
# text = Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: ‘I really hardly know how to thank you for all your kindness to me during these weeks.
1	Matters	matter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl:unmarked	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	shark	shark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
13	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	really	really	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
16	hardly	hardly	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	know	know	VERB	VB	Mood=Sub|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
18	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	20	advmod	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	thank	thank	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	ccomp	_	_
21	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	25	det:predet	_	_
24	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	25	nmod	_	_
28	during	during	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	30	det	_	_
30	weeks	week	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Matters |  |  | this state |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the shark |  |  |  | day |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **know** | infinitive | I |  |  |  |  | hardly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **thank** *speech: thank* | to-infinitive |  |  | you |  | week | for your kindness to me | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent you=Theme for kindness=Attribute |

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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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