--- title: The White Cat looked serious, and said she must think what was to be… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: The White Cat looked serious, and said she must think what was to be done, but that, luckily, there were some cats in the castle who could spin very well, and if anybody could manage it they could, and she would set them the task herself. Who acts: White Cat, Cat, that, castle. A sentence of «The Bl --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/3/) [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/) / [The White Cat, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/) / 3 # The Blue Fairy Book, The White Cat, part 2, sentence 3 The White Cat looked serious, and said she must think what was to be done, but that, luckily, there were some cats in the castle who could spin very well, and if anybody could manage it they could, and she would set them the task herself. **Who acts:** White Cat, Cat, that, castle, anybody · **What happens:** look, say, think, do, be, spin · **To what, where:** castle, them · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The White Cat, part 2. 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, Cat, that, castle), 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:pg503:24:3 # text = The White Cat looked serious, and said she must think what was to be done, but that, luckily, there were some cats in the castle who could spin very well, and if anybody could manage it they could, and she would set them the task herself. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 White white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 Cat cat NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 4 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 serious serious ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 9 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 10 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 11 think think VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 ccomp _ _ 12 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 16 obj _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 aux:pass _ _ 14 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 15 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 16 aux:pass _ _ 16 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 11 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 but but CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 29 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 21 luckily luckily ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 23 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 24 expl _ _ 24 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 cop _ _ 25 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 26 det _ _ 26 cats cat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 nsubj _ _ 27 in in ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 castle castle NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 parataxis _ _ 30 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 31 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 spin spin VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 acl:relcl _ _ 33 very very ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 32 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 37 if if SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 38 anybody anybody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 40 nsubj _ _ 39 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 40 manage manage VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 conj _ _ 41 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 43 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 45 and and CCONJ CC _ 48 cc _ _ 46 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 47 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 48 aux _ _ 48 set set VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 conj _ _ 49 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 48 obj _ _ 50 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 task task NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 obj _ _ 52 herself herself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 48 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **look** | past | the White Cat | | | | | serious *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the White Cat *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **think** *speech: other* | must | Cat | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 4 | **do** | past · passive | | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: what=Eventuality | | 5 | **is** | past | that | | | the castle | | | tree rules | | 6 | **spin** | could | the castle | | | | | well *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **manage** *a condition, not said to happen* | could | anybody | castle | | | | | vn caring-75.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | | 8 | **set** | would | Cat | them *= they* | | | | Cat *obl* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent they=Theme task=Destination | 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/pg503/24/2/) - next →: [sentence 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/4/) - ↑ back to [The White Cat, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/24/)