--- title: The White Cat sighed as he looked at it, and seemed sadder than ever… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The White Cat sighed as he looked at it, and seemed sadder than ever, and the Prince dared not ask any questions for fear of displeasing her; so he began to talk about other things, and found that she was interested in all the subjects he cared for himself, and seemed to know quite well what was goi --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/47/) [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/) / [The White Cat, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/) / 47 # The Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 1, sentence 47 The White Cat sighed as he looked at it, and seemed sadder than ever, and the Prince dared not ask any questions for fear of displeasing her; so he began to talk about other things, and found that she was interested in all the subjects he cared for himself, and seemed to know quite well what was going on in the world. **Who acts:** White Cat, sight, Prince, fear, kind · **What happens:** sigh, look, seem, ask, displease, begin · **To what, where:** questions, kind, subjects, world · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The White Cat, 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 (White Cat, sight, Prince, fear), 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:pg503:23:47 # text = The White Cat sighed as he looked at it, and seemed sadder than ever, and the Prince dared not ask any questions for fear of displeasing her; so he began to talk about other things, and found that she was interested in all the subjects he cared for himself, and seemed to know quite well what was going on in the world. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 White white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 Cat Cat PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 sighed sigh VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 as as SCONJ IN _ 7 mark _ _ 6 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 7 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 ccomp _ _ 8 at at ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 9 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 12 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 13 sadder sad ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 12 xcomp _ _ 14 than than ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 Prince Prince PROPN NNP Number=Sing 22 nsubj _ _ 20 dared dare VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 aux _ _ 21 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 20 advmod _ _ 22 ask ask VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 parataxis _ _ 23 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 24 det _ _ 24 questions question NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obj _ _ 25 for for ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 26 fear fear NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ _ 27 of of SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 28 displeasing displease VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 26 acl _ _ 29 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 30 ; ; PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 31 so so ADV RB _ 33 advmod _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 33 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 talk talk VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 36 about about ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 amod _ _ 38 things thing NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 41 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 42 that that SCONJ IN _ 45 mark _ _ 43 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 44 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 45 cop _ _ 45 interested interested ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 ccomp _ _ 46 in in ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 47 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 49 det:predet _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 subjects subject NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obl _ _ 50 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 51 nsubj _ _ 51 cared care VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 49 acl:relcl _ _ 52 for for ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 53 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 51 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 55 and and CCONJ CC _ 56 cc _ _ 56 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 57 to to PART TO _ 58 mark _ _ 58 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 56 xcomp _ _ 59 quite quite ADV RB _ 60 advmod _ _ 60 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 58 advmod _ _ 61 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 63 nsubj _ _ 62 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 aux _ _ 63 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 58 ccomp _ _ 64 on on ADP RP _ 63 compound:prt _ _ 65 in in ADP IN _ 67 case _ _ 66 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 67 det _ _ 67 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 63 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 68 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **sigh** | past | the White Cat | | | | | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **look** | past | sight | | | | | at portrait | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at it=Theme | | 3 | **seem** | past | | | | | | sad *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the Prince | any questions | | | | for fear | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent question=Recipient | | 5 | **displease** | gerund | fear *not said here* | kind | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus she=Experiencer | | 6 | **begin** | past | sight | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 7 | **talk** | to-infinitive | sight *not said here* | | | | | about other things | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about thing=Topic | | 8 | **find** | past | | | | | | | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **is** | past | kind | | | all subjects | | interested *property* | tree rules | | 10 | **care** | past | sight | all subjects *not said here* | | | | for sight | tree rules | | 11 | **seem** | past | | | | | | | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute | | 12 | **know** | to-infinitive | | | | | | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 13 | **go on** | past · progressive | | | | the world | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in world=Location | 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 46](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/46/) - next →: [sentence 48](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/48/) - ↑ back to [The White Cat, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/23/)