---
title: The boy answered that he knew not where such things were to be procu… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: The boy answered that he knew not where such things were to be procured, and that, wanting them, he could only try and fail. Who acts: boy, that. A sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Terrible Head, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Blue Fairy Book, The Terrible Head, sentence 37

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The boy answered that he knew not where such things were to be procured, and that, wanting them, he could only try and fail.

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**Who acts:** boy, that · **What happens:** answer, not know, procure, want, try, fail · **To what, where:** such things, things · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Terrible Head. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, that), 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:pg503:27:37
# text = The boy answered that he knew not where such things were to be procured, and that, wanting them, he could only try and fail.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	answered	answer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
8	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	14	advmod	_	_
9	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	procured	procure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	19	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	wanting	want	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
23	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	only	only	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	fail	fail	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **know** | past | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **procure** | past · passive |  | such things |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **want** | gerund | that | things *= thing* |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot they=Theme |
| 5 | **try** | could | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **fail** | infinitive | boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=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 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.

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