--- title: They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by L… — The Blue Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by Little Thumb, who made account to get out of this difficulty as well as the former; but, though he got up very early in the morning to go and pick up some little pebbles, he was disappointed, for he found the house-door double-locked --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/47/) [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/) / [Little Thumb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/) / 47 # The Blue Fairy Book, Little Thumb, sentence 47 They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by Little Thumb, who made account to get out of this difficulty as well as the former; but, though he got up very early in the morning to go and pick up some little pebbles, he was disappointed, for he found the house-door double-locked, and was at a stand what to do. **Who acts:** folks, Little Thumb, thumb · **What happens:** not talk, overhear, make, get out, get up, go · **To what, where:** folks, account, difficulty, little pebbles, house door, stand This is a sentence of «The Blue Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Little Thumb. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (folks, Little Thumb, thumb), 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:pg503:33:47 # text = They could not talk of this so secretly but they were overheard by Little Thumb, who made account to get out of this difficulty as well as the former; but, though he got up very early in the morning to go and pick up some little pebbles, he was disappointed, for he found the house-door double-locked, and was at a stand what to do. 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 talk talk VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 4 obl _ _ 7 so so ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 secretly secretly ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 9 but but CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 10 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux:pass _ _ 12 overheard overhear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 13 by by ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 Little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 amod _ _ 15 Thumb Thumb PROPN NNP Number=Sing 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 17 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 18 nsubj _ _ 18 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 acl:relcl _ _ 19 account account NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 advcl _ _ 22 out out ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 25 det _ _ 25 difficulty difficulty NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 26 as as ADV RB ExtPos=CCONJ 30 cc _ _ 27 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 26 fixed _ _ 28 as as ADP IN _ 26 fixed _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 former former ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 25 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ; ; PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 32 but but CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 34 though though SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 advcl _ _ 37 up up ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 38 very very ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 early early ADV RB Degree=Pos 36 advmod _ _ 40 in in ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 morning morning NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obl _ _ 43 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 44 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 advcl _ _ 45 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 46 pick pick VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 44 conj _ _ 47 up up ADP RP _ 46 compound:prt _ _ 48 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 50 det _ _ 49 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 pebbles pebble NOUN NNS Number=Plur 46 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 51 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 52 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 53 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 cop _ _ 54 disappointed disappointed ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 58 punct _ _ 56 for for SCONJ IN _ 58 mark _ _ 57 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 58 nsubj _ _ 58 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 parataxis _ _ 59 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 60 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 61 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 60 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 62 door door NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 obj _ _ 63 double double ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 64 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 63 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 65 locked lock VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 62 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 66 , , PUNCT , _ 71 punct _ _ 67 and and CCONJ CC _ 71 cc _ _ 68 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 71 cop _ _ 69 at at ADP IN _ 71 case _ _ 70 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 71 det _ _ 71 stand stand NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 obl _ _ 72 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 74 obj _ _ 73 to to PART TO _ 74 mark _ _ 74 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 71 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 75 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **talk** | could | folks *= folk* | | | | | of this; secretly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **overhear** | past · passive | Little Thumb | folks *= folk* | | | | | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus | | 3 | **make** | past | Little Thumb | account | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent account=Product | | 4 | **get out** | to-infinitive | Little Thumb *not said here* | this difficulty | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **get up** | past | thumb | | | | morning | early *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **go** | to-infinitive | thumb *not said here* | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **pick up** | infinitive | thumb *not said here* | some little pebbles | | | | | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pebble=Topic | | 8 | **is** | past | thumb | | | | | disappointed *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **find** | past | thumb | the house door | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent door=Topic | | 10 | **lock** | participle | | the house door *not said here* | | | | | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 11 | **is** | past | | | | a stand | | | tree rules | | 12 | **do** | to-infinitive | thumb *not said here* | a stand | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | 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/pg503/33/46/) - next →: [sentence 48](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/48/) - ↑ back to [Little Thumb](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg503/33/)