--- title: It was by no means the first time that the brother had been forced t… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: It was by no means the first time that the brother had been forced to give something to him, and he was not better pleased at being asked now than he generally was. Who acts: bite, brother, Christmas. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Why the Sea Is Salt, with its dependency tree a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/20/3/) [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 Blue Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/) / [Why the Sea Is Salt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/20/) / 3 # The Blue Fairy Book, Why the Sea Is Salt, sentence 3 It was by no means the first time that the brother had been forced to give something to him, and he was not better pleased at being asked now than he generally was. **Who acts:** bite, brother, Christmas · **What happens:** be, force, give, ask · **To what, where:** brother, something, Christmas This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Why the Sea Is Salt. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (bite, brother, Christmas), 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:pg503:20:3 # text = It was by no means the first time that the brother had been forced to give something to him, and he was not better pleased at being asked now than he generally was. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 3 by by ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 5 obl _ _ 5 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 8 amod _ _ 8 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obj _ _ 9 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 14 obj _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 brother brother NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nsubj:pass _ _ 12 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 aux _ _ 13 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 14 aux:pass _ _ 14 forced force VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 acl:relcl _ _ 15 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 16 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 xcomp _ _ 17 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 16 obj _ _ 18 to to ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 19 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 22 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 23 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 cop _ _ 24 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 25 advmod _ _ 25 better well ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 26 advmod _ _ 26 pleased pleased ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 conj _ _ 27 at at SCONJ IN _ 29 mark _ _ 28 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 29 aux:pass _ _ 29 asked ask VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 26 advcl _ _ 30 now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 29 advmod _ _ 31 than than SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 33 generally generally ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | bite | | | | time | by no; mean *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **force** | past · perfect · passive | | the brother | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **give** | to-infinitive | the brother *not said here* | something | Christmas | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent something=Theme to he=Recipient | | 4 | **is** | past | Christmas | | | | | pleased, well *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund · passive | Christmas *not said here* | | | | now | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V» | | 6 | **be** | past | Christmas | | | | | generally *property* | vn exist-47.1 «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 Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 503 (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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/20/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/20/4/) - ↑ back to [Why the Sea Is Salt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/20/)